Everything
by Tess84
Summary: What if Damon, Elena and Bonnie hadn't gotten to Stefan in time in "Miss Mystic Falls"? A guilt-ridden Stefan takes off, leaving Elena and Damon to deal with Isobel, Jonathan's invention and the tomb vampires. Will they get closer in the process? Delena
1. Prologue

**AN: OK, my little one-shots got me thinking about writing a longer **_**Vampire Diaries**_**-fic, so here it is. Going AU in the episode **_**Miss Mystic Falls.**_** What if Damon, Elena and Bonnie hadn't gotten to Stefan in time? My take on what could have happened … Damon/Elena. **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries **_**are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at the CW. **

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**Prologue**

"Listen to me, Amber. I need you to be afraid of me. I need you to run like hell, do you understand me? Run! Run! Now!"

* * *

It didn't take him long to catch up to her in the dark forest, after only seconds of resisting the urge to hunt her down. She made it easy, running right into him, and suddenly, there she was. Warm in his arms. Blood pounding in her veins.

"You said to run." She struggled, trying to get away from him.

"I changed my mind."

As his teeth sank into the delicate skin on her neck that feeling, that horrible feeling that had been burning inside him for what felt like an eternity but was really only a couple of days – hadn't it been longer? – finally disappeared, along with everything else. There was nothing. Nothing except the warm, sweet blood. Not even the girl mattered anymore.

Her empty body slipped from his grip when the blood ran out, and he stared down at it. Her unseeing eyes looking up at the sky they would never see again, her legs in an unnatural position underneath her, the blood dark against her pale skin.

What had he done?

The horrifying realization dawned on him and he fell to his knees, clutching at the corpse on the ground.

"No, no, no. Wake up, wake up, please wake up!"

But, of course, she wouldn't wake up. She would never wake up. Because he had killed her.

He heard voices calling for him. Elena. Damon. He couldn't let them find him, couldn't let her see him like this. Like the monster he had tried for so long not to be, the monster she had made him forget for a moment that he actually was.

Without much thought, he struggled to his feet and ran, as fast as he could, through the woods in the direction of the boarding house.

But once he got there, he realized he couldn't stay. He was a danger to everyone around him, and especially to Elena.

Elena. He couldn't risk being close to her, not when he was like this. He would kill her.

So he would have to leave.

The thought of being away from Elena tore at his already tortured mind, but he wasn't going to back down. He would leave Mystic Falls, get himself back under control, and then he would come back for her. Maybe – though it was a long-shot – him leaving would mean Damon would too, and then Elena would finally be free of all the danger that he himself had brought into her life.

Yes. She would be fine. Alaric was here, he would look after her.

And then he would come back. As soon as he was safe for her, he would return and _they_ would be fine. He refused to consider any other possible scenario.

He quickly wrote down a message for Damon, putting it by the liquor where his brother was sure to find it. After a moment's hesitation, he left his cell phone next to the note. He needed to stay focused on regaining control of himself; if he had his phone with him, the temptation to call Elena would be too great. And he wasn't sure he would be able to resist her if she asked him to come back.

After that, it only took him a split second to get out of the house and into his car, with only a bag of clothes and a few personal belongings. He skidded out of the driveway and turned away from the town, into the night.

* * *

**AN: I know, I know. Isn't this a Delena story? It is, I promise, this is just … setting the stage, I guess you could call it. Need to get Stefan out of the picture, right? There won't be any more of him for a long time after this prologue. Anyway, let me know what you think of the opening. Love, hate? **

**Also, I'm looking for someone who would be willing to help me out by being the beta for this story. Preferably someone who's American, since I'm not, and I sometimes mess up cultural references and stuff. Just send me an e-mail if you're interested!**


	2. Chapter one

**AN: Time to get on with the 'real' story. Part of it's going to follow the timeline of the show, and there will be some dialogue that has appeared in different episodes, but since Stefan is gone, things will be a little … different. And the focus will be on Damon/Elena, so a lot of what happens to other characters will be revealed in dialogue and not directly. Hope you like it, let me know!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of The Vampire Diaries are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing them. **

**Chapter one**

"Stefan! Stefan!" As she called out his name, Elena's eyes frantically searched the dark lawn, the parking lot, the edge of the forest, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

"Stefan! Stop terrorizing the damn squirrels and get out here!" she heard Damon yell from a few feet ahead of her. She wasn't sure if he was trying to be funny or if it was wishful thinking: Stefan chasing the little furry animals and not Amber. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

"He's not here," Bonnie concluded, grabbing Elena by the arm.

"We have to find him," she insisted, shaking off Bonnie's hand and following Damon into the woods.

"Careful," he warned her, glancing over his shoulder. "You don't have my amazing night vision; you'll probably trip over something and crack your head open on a rock. And the last thing I need right now is the distraction of your no doubt very tempting blood."

"Shut up," she snapped back, catching up to him.

He shrugged. "Just saying."

But it really wasn't that dark, and she had no problem avoiding the roots that stuck out here and there, as if trying to trip unwary wanderers. As they made their way further into the woods, she could hear Bonnie a few feet behind them.

Suddenly, Damon froze next to her.

"What is it?" she asked anxiously, standing on her toes to try to see what he had seen. But there was nothing but dark trees wherever she looked.

"Stay here," he instructed sternly, giving her a do-as-your-told look, and kept walking, more carefully than before, as if he were sneaking up on someone.

She watched him until he disappeared from view behind a particularly dense group of trees and then followed him. "Right, like I'm just going to wait here," she muttered, keeping her voice low enough that she hoped he couldn't hear her. But you never knew.

"Elena, maybe we should do what he said," Bonnie suggested from behind her, voice a little shaky.

"If you don't want to be here, Bonnie, you can go back to the party," Elena said without turning around and continued to make her way through the trees in the direction of the spot where Damon had disappeared – or at least she hoped so. It hadn't been her intention to snap at Bonnie like that, but she didn't have time to worry about hurting her friend's feelings right now. She had to find Stefan.

She almost jumped out of her skin when Damon suddenly appeared out of nowhere, right in front of her. She instinctively took a step backwards. "God, don't do that, you scared me half to death!" she exclaimed, clutching at her racing heart.

He ignored that, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her along back the way they had come, to where Bonnie had stopped a moment ago. "What part of 'stay here' was too difficult for you to understand?" he demanded, eyes blazing, when he finally let go of her.

"Did you honestly expect me to just stay put? Stefan's out there somewhere." Was he insane?

He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. "Why can't you, just this once, do what I tell you?"

"Did you find him?" She tried to get past him, but he was faster than her and wouldn't let her move a single step.

"No, I didn't find him."

The look in his eyes told her that he had found _something_, though. "What is it?" she asked, not completely sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Nothing." He shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but she could see right through him. "Why don't you take Elena back to the party?" he suggested, turning to Bonnie. "I just need to take care of a few things out here and then I'll join you."

Bonnie hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded and looped her arm with Elena's. "Come on, let's go back," she said, turning in the direction of the music that could be heard through the trees.

"No," Elena objected, pulling out of Bonnie's grasp and holding Damon's eye. "I want to know what you found."

"Elena, please." The way he said it, begging her not to push it, scared her. "Go back with Bonnie. You don't need to see this."

"See what?" She could feel her entire body turn cold. "Is he hurt? Did someone hurt him?"

She knew the absurdity of what she was asking, and somewhere deep down, she knew the truth as well. He wasn't the one hurt. He had been the one doing the hurting.

"Is Amber OK?" Bonnie asked, voice suspicious, from behind her.

Before Damon had a chance to reply, the sheriff and two of her deputies joined them. "Where is she, Damon?" Sheriff Forbes asked, her face solemn.

"I'll show you," he said, giving Elena one last look before turning and leading the sheriff through the trees.

Elena took the opportunity of him not being able to use his vampire speed and hurried past them. She felt Damon's hand on her arm but managed to slip out of his grasp.

"Elena, don't …" That was as far as he got before she came to a stop so suddenly she might as well have run into an invisible wall in the middle of the woods.

Amber was lying on the forest floor, unseeing eyes staring up at the dark sky. At first, Elena refused to take in what she was seeing. But Amber was too still, her legs were bent at such an awkward angle and there was so much blood on her neck. So much blood …

She would have slumped to the ground if it hadn't been for Damon catching her. He turned her in his arms so that her face was pressed against his chest and she couldn't see anything anymore, his hand against the back of her head, holding her there. "Shh," he mumbled into her hair after a moment, and only then did she realize that she had started crying. "Shh, it'll be OK, shh."

But how would it be OK?

"We've got it, why don't you take the girls home?" Sheriff Forbes suggested in the kind of hushed voice you use at a funeral.

"I'll do that," Damon agreed. "Call me if you need any … help."

"I will."

Elena was only vaguely aware of the conversation and when Damon started leading her back through the woods, she stumbled along. She wished she had done as he'd asked, stayed with Bonnie. She would never be able to get the image of Amber's body out of her mind; it would be forever etched into her memory.

Tears blinding her, Elena didn't see much of where she was going. The third time she tripped over a root, Damon picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. She considered arguing, telling him to put her down, but in the end she just didn't have the energy. So she let him carry her and buried her face against his shoulder, soaking his shirt with her tears.

When they got back to the parking lot, he went straight to his car where he deposited her in the passenger seat and buckled her in. When he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, she met his eyes. The look in them was unlike any expression she had ever seen on his face before. Concern, fear, anger, helplessness … and something else that she couldn't quite place.

He closed the car door and turned to Bonnie. "Can you let Jenna or Jeremy or someone know I've taken her home?" he asked quietly, glancing at the still illuminated building. Bonnie nodded. "Great, thanks." He started walking around the car, considering the conversation to be over. Bonnie, however, didn't.

"What are you going to do about him?" she asked when he was about to open the door on the driver's side, her voice cold. His hand froze in mid-air and he turned to face her, eyebrows raised.

"'Do about him'. What do you mean 'do about him'?"

"He just killed an innocent girl." Bonnie's eyes were throwing daggers at him, challenging him to argue. He considered it for a moment, but then decided against it. Not the time to get on the witch's bad side.

"I know," he simply said, running a hand through his hair. She frowned at him.

"Why aren't you being your usual I'm-better-than-you-why-should-I-care self?" she asked, sounding confused. "Giving me the whole he's-a-vampire-it's-what-we-do speech?"

He sighed and leaned against the car.

"Look, I know I've been goading Stefan since I got here, pushing him. But this was never what I wanted, I wasn't really trying to get him to go off the deep end, OK?" he admitted. "I was trying to make his life hell, sure, but this wasn't part of the plan."

Bonnie considered this for a moment. "I don't think I can just let him get away with this," she then said quietly, glancing at Elena who sat staring into the night, seemingly somewhere else in her mid.

"I know." Damon nodded, looking thoughtful. "But if you go after him, you'll have to deal with me, too, got it? And it's not like Elena's gonna do a one-eighty and suddenly side with you against the big, bad vampires, you know."

"I know that," Bonnie replied impatiently.

"Good. Then this is what we're gonna do. I'm going to take Elena home, somehow get her to sleep, then I'm going to pay a little visit to our neighborhood Blade-wannabe and stock up on some of his nifty little vervain darts, and hopefully lock my little brother in the basement until the human blood is out of his system. And you are going to let it go."

Her eyes narrowed as she processed his words. "I don't like it," she finally said. "He needs to pay for what he did tonight."

"Believe me, he will. There's no-one who can wallow in guilt the way Stefan can."

"That's not good enough!"

"Then what is your excellent plan?" he countered. "You want to tell the cops, get him locked up, tried for murder? Or do you want to let the whole world know vampires exist? Because, trust me, you'll be on your way to the loony bin before you can finish the sentence."

"He needs to pay," she repeated.

"Oh, I see what you're getting at." Damon nodded. "An eye for an eye, is that it? You want to kill him?" She flinched at the word. "I didn't think so. You might think you're all big and powerful but, trust me, killing someone isn't anything like what you might imagine." She saw a shadow of something – regret? – flash across his face, but it disappeared too quickly for her to be sure. Without another word, he opened the door and got in the driver's seat.

"This conversation isn't over," she said quietly, knowing he'd hear her, right before he closed the door.

"Of course it isn't," he muttered to himself as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"What?" Elena asked next to him, snapping out of her daze.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," he tried to reassure her. He expected her to argue, but instead she leaned her head against the back of the seat and stared out the side window.

He almost thought she had fallen asleep when she spoke. "I have to see Stefan."

"Nope, no way, not gonna happen." He tried not to sound like he was forbidding her, but it still came out that way. There was no way in hell he was going to let her anywhere near Stefan right now. And not only because he knew his little brother would never forgive him if he let him hurt Elena. "You are going to stay far, far away from him until I can get him off the human stuff."

"He wouldn't hurt me," she objected, turning to face him. "He loves me, he would never do anything to hurt me." Her voice caught a little at the end and he wondered if there was something he didn't know.

"Elena, just, please, trust me on this," he pleaded – and he never pleaded, not with anyone. "He's high on human blood right now, he's so far from himself there's nothing left of the Stefan you know. Give him a few days, let him detox a little, and then you can see him."

"No." She crossed her arms over her chest and set her chin.

"Look, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way …" he started.

"What are you gonna do, tie me to my bed?" she challenged.

"Tempting." He flashed her a tight smile. "But I don't need to tie you anywhere. I'll just keep an eye on you all night if I have to."

She sighed. "Fine. But can I at least borrow your phone and call him?"

He pulled his cell out of his pocket and handed it over. "Where's your phone?"

"In my purse, I must have dropped it when … before." He made a mental note to ask Liz if they had found Elena's purse, or, if they hadn't, do a quick scan of the woods for it himself, as he watched her enter the number. It only took her a second to pull the phone away from her ear again. "Damn it, it's turned off."

"I honestly don't think he's in any shape to talk to you right now," Damon told her. "And if he is, he's probably too ashamed of himself to face you."

"God, how did it get this far?" she moaned, burying her face in her hands. "This is all my fault."

"Hey." He pulled into the driveway at her house and killed the engine. "Look at me." When she didn't, he pulled her hands away and turned her face so he could look her in the eye. "This is not in any way your fault. This is all on him, OK?"

She angrily wiped at the tears that had started running down her cheeks again. "But I was the one who forced him to take my blood! That's why this is happening."

"And if you hadn't, there's a very good chance we would all be dead right now," he countered realistically.

She sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. "I know that, but on some level I can't help but blame myself … poor Amber!"

"I know," he said, probably with less compassion than the situation required. "Now, come on."

He got out, helped her out of the car and led her to the front door. "Key?" She gave him the house key and he unlocked the door, ushering her inside.

"You don't actually have to walk me all the way to my bedroom door," she pointed out dryly. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Nice try. So you can sneak out the window and go off looking for my crazy, bloodthirsty brother?" She flinched at his words, and he cursed under his breath. "Sorry, didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"It's fine." But she wouldn't meet his eyes as she turned and went into the kitchen. "Seriously, though, you don't have to babysit me. I get it, and I'm not going to do anything stupid."

He followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the counter while she pulled a box of left-over pizza from the fridge and put a couple of slices on a plate to heat up in the microwave. "Sure you're not. But I'm still not going to let you out of my sight." _Because Stefan might come here_, he added silently, not wanting to upset her even more. He hoped he was wrong, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Damon!" she complained, glaring at him.

"That's the way it's gonna be." He shrugged.

She continued glaring at him as she ate the two slices of pizza and gulped down a glass of orange juice. When she rinsed off the plate, she yawned.

"Time for bed?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows in the most suggestive way he could.

She snorted. "You wish." Another yawn cut her sentence short. "But I am kinda beat."

"That would be the shock," he explained, eyeing her carefully as she considered it.

"Maybe," she allowed after a moment. "But it has also been very long day."

"It has," he agreed. "So, how about you let me take you to bed?"

As he had hoped, she laughed a little at his blatantly suggestive tone of voice. "Just to be clear, _you_ are not going to be joining me in that bed," she clarified, heading up the stairs. He followed her after making sure the front door was locked, not that that would keep Stefan out if he decided to drop by.

"What, are you going to make me sleep on the floor?" he asked. "You hurt my feelings."

"You'll get over it," she replied lightly, and he congratulated himself on successfully distracting her – at least for the moment.

When he followed her into her bedroom, she raised her eyebrows but didn't argue. Instead, she grabbed a tank-top and a pair of shorts from the dresser and went into the bathroom.

"Are you going to follow me in here too, or can I change in private?" she asked dryly.

"Nah, the window in there's too small to climb out of, and I'll hear it if you try to sneak out through Jeremy's room, so I think I'm good right here," he replied, ignoring the sarcasm and throwing himself onto her bed. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of him lying on top of the covers, but she didn't say anything before closing – and locking – the door to the bathroom. "If I wanted to get in there, that little feeble lock wouldn't stop me for even a second," he called, loud enough for her to hear through the closed door. She didn't reply.

She took forever in the bathroom. After ten minutes, he was bored and got up to check the street outside. Nobody in sight. He heard the bathroom door open, and turned to see her coming back into the room. The shorts were _very_ short, and there was about an inch of skin between the bottom of the tank-top and the top of the shorts. His eyes travelled down her body appreciatively, and then back up again. He was rewarded with a blush before she crawled into bed.

"Stop staring!" she snapped, pulling the covers up to her chin.

Choosing not to respond to that, he sat down on the windowsill. From there, he could keep an eye on her as well as the street.

"You're seriously going to watch me sleep?" she asked incredulously.

"You seriously thought I was going to leave you here, alone, unprotected?" he countered, eyebrows raised. "I know you don't want to face it, but Stefan's not himself right now. I am honestly expecting him to drop by for a late night snack, and I'm really not interested in spending the rest of eternity hearing him whine after he kills you. He's gloomy enough as it is."

There. If that didn't make her understand how serious the situation was, he didn't know what would.

She bit her lip, glancing at the slightly open window behind him.

"You really think he'll … come after me?" she asked after a moment, voice shaking a little.

"Yeah," he replied. No point in sugarcoating it. "What you need to understand is that sex and blood are very closely related for vampires. I'm actually surprised he hasn't taken a bite out of you a long time ago."

"What, so you … when you … I mean, you bite …" she rambled, finally cutting herself off when he nodded, a smirk on his face. "OK, seriously gross."

"Don't knock it 'till you try it," he told her, turning his attention to the street.

"Like that's ever going to happen."

He sighed. No, probably not. Unfortunately …

* * *

When the front door opened later that night, Elena was fast asleep. Her breathing was deep and even, had been for almost an hour, and she hadn't even stirred when Jeremy had gotten home a little earlier.

Quietly, not wanting to wake her, Damon slid from the windowsill and left the room. He closed the door carefully behind him before going down the stairs.

Like he had thought, he found Jenna and Alaric in the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" Jenna snapped when she spotted him. "Were you upstairs? What the …"

"Jeez, chill, little Miss Chaperone. I haven't been corrupting your innocent niece, if that's what you're worried about." He gave her a pointed look. "Not that she's really all that innocent to begin with …"

"Did you want something, Damon?" Alaric interrupted him, trying to prevent a full-blown argument.

"As a matter of fact, I wanted to talk to you." Damon hoped Alaric got the meaningful look he was sending the other man's way. "Got a minute?"

"Sure." The teacher turned to Jenna. "Why don't you make sure Elena and Jeremy are OK?"

Jenna eyed Damon warily. "Yeah, I'll do that. I'm sure they're both upset after what happened to that poor girl tonight."

She left the room and disappeared up the stairs after giving Damon one final suspicious look.

"I take it the cat's out of the bag then?" Damon concluded when he heard the door to Jeremy's room open and close upstairs.

"The official version is that it was an animal attack," Alaric said. "But, yeah, I figured out what was going on. Stefan?"

"He's off the wagon big time. Which is why I'm going to need some of your Van Helsing arsenal."

"I don't really have that much left, we pretty much used up everything saving Stefan from the tomb vampires," Alaric told him. "I mean, I've got a few stakes, but I'm guessing that's not what you had in mind."

"I was thinking more along the line of those darts," Damon replied, frowning. "Damn it! Normally, I wouldn't have a problem taking him, but now that he's all hyped up on human blood, I don't know …"

"I'll go with you, I'm sure we can take him together," the teacher suggested.

"Nope, you're staying here and keeping an eye on Elena. I'm worried Stefan might stop by."

"Come on, Damon, you just said that you didn't think you could take him on your own," Alaric argued. "The sooner we get him locked up, the better."

"I'm not leaving her here unprotected!" Damon glared at the other man.

Alaric seemed to consider this for a moment, and apparently came to the conclusion that Elena and Jenna's safety were more important than helping keep Damon alive.

"Fine. Just don't screw this up; I don't want to have to clean up your mess."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

With those words, Damon strode out the backdoor and was soon speeding down the street towards the boarding house. He wasn't sure where to start looking for Stefan and thought it wouldn't hurt to check if his brother had returned to their home.

But as soon as he entered the house, he could tell that it was empty. Still, he was pretty sure Stefan had been there recently, so he climbed the stairs and went into the younger vampire's room.

The closet door was open and a sports bag was missing along with some clothes. Frowning, he scanned the room, finding nothing else out of the ordinary. He went back downstairs, going into the living room, where he found what he was looking for; a note had been placed against the bottle of bourbon he had left on the table earlier and Stefan's cell phone was lying next to it. He picked up the note and quickly read the words that seemed to have been written down in a hurry:

_Damon,_

_I have to get away. I can't stay here, can't be around her after what I did. Good news for you, right? Now you can leave too, when I'm no longer here to torment. Know this: if you do anything to hurt Elena, anything at all, I will hunt you down and I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?_

_S _

"A drama queen even in writing," Damon mumbled to himself, crumbling the paper into a ball and throwing it into the waste basket in the corner before leaving the room and the house. He was about to get into the car when a familiar voice called his name.

"Great," he muttered, turning around to face Pearl and Anna. "Perfect timing as always, ladies." He hoped they noted he sarcasm.

"We're here to talk," Anna replied.

"Can it wait? This is _really_ not a good time." He glanced at his watch.

"Annabelle tells me you're looking for something I took from Jonathan Gilbert," Pearl joined the conversation.

Damon hesitated. On the one hand, he wanted to get back to Elena, make sure Stefan didn't stop by on his way out of town. On the other … she could be talking about the invention he had been trying to get his hands on. "I'm listening."

Pearl handed him a pouch with something inside it. "What is it?" he asked, taking the object from the bag.

"Jonathan was passionate about his inventions," Pearl replied. "He confided in me that he had created a detection device, meant to track down the town's vampire element."

Great. Not even the right thing. "That was the pocket watch," he pointed out impatiently.

"That's what it turned out to be, yes," Pearl agreed. "But that's not what I stole. I discovered my mistake when I saw the watch in Jonathan's hand the night they took us, its dial pointed at me."

"So what is this?" Damon asked, turning the thing over in his hand.

"I have no idea, but now it's yours."

He looked up at Pearl. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch," she said. "My daughter wants to stay here, I want to stay here. You refused to trust us, for good reason. Consider this an apology."

He scrutinized her for a moment, but couldn't see anything other than sincerity in her eyes. With a nod, he turned and went back to the car, getting in.

He turned the device over in his hands a few more times, trying to figure out what it was. Then he sighed and stuffed it into his pocket before starting the car.

As he sped down the dark streets of Mystic Falls, it wasn't Pearl's visit or Jonathan Gilbert's invention, whatever the hell that was, that went through his mind, though.

It was some of the words from Stefan's note.

He could turn the car around and get out of this hell hole. The whole reason he had even come here in the first place had been to make life difficult for Stefan, because that's what he had promised to do that day almost a hundred and fifty years ago.

So why wasn't he leaving?

* * *

**AN: OK, there we go, first chapter. Did you like it? Please let me know what you thought!**

**Also, I'm still looking for a beta, so if anyone's interested, send me a PM or e-mail.  
**


	3. Chapter two

**AN: Hey guys, time for chapter two. Thanks to everyone who's read the story, and a special thanks to Alex Bee, ****xAlternativexMusicxGirlx****, EtherealDemon, sunshine2006578 and Vya-sama who also took the time to review – it made my day. And a special, special thanks to sunshine2006578 who has agreed to help me out with this story buy being my beta. OK, that's all the thanks for now, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of The Vampire Diaries are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing them.

* * *

**

**Chapter two**

Alaric glanced at his watch when he heard a car stop outside the house.

"What?" Jenna asked, looking away from the television.

"I should probably get going," he said reluctantly. He didn't really want to leave, but he had to talk to Damon. The vampire hadn't been gone nearly long enough to track Stefan down; something hadn't gone according to plan.

"Oh, right, sure." A look of disappointment flashed across Jenna's face – or at least he hoped it was disappointment – as she stood up.

"No, stay, watch your movie," he insisted, and she sat back down again. "I'll talk to you soon, OK?"

"Sure."

He thought she sounded a little dejected and wanted to explain why he had to go, but it wasn't the right time for that conversation – a conversation that it wasn't his place to have with her anyway – so he just pressed a kiss to her hair and left, closing the front door behind him.

Damon was walking up the driveway, having parked his car in front of the house across the street.

"No luck?" Alaric concluded as he approached him.

"He's gone," Damon replied and Alaric frowned.

"What do you mean 'gone'?"

Damon thrust a piece of paper at him and Alaric took it, reading the hastily scribbled words. "He's really left," he said after a moment. "Do you think he'll come back?"

"I'm fairly certain he will," Damon replied. "Doubt he'll be able to stay away from Elena forever."

That made sense. "How long?"

"I guess that depends on how long it'll take him to get over feeling guilty about killing that girl," Damon concluded in an off-hand voice. "But I know my brother, and wallowing in guilt is what he does best. So it could be a while."

"And you?" Alaric's eyes narrowed as he watched Damon think about what to say to that.

"This town has started to grow on me, so I think I'll stick around, at least for a while," he said after a moment. "Besides, it seems like there's always something happening around here. Wouldn't want to miss out on all the fun."

Alaric nodded; Damon had confirmed what he'd suspected. "What are you going to tell Elena?"

Damon frowned. "Haven't figured that one out yet," he admitted. "I'm counting on a couple more hours of her sleeping to come up with something."

"She'll be devastated," Alaric pointed out, and Damon looked away from him.

"Yeah, I know," he said, sounding … frustrated, Alaric thought.

"Anyway, I'm gonna get going," Alaric announced, moving towards his car. "You sticking around?"

Damon nodded, glancing at the living room window.

"Jenna's watching TV, I would suggest climbing through the window," Alaric said as he got into the car.

"Thanks, teach."

Alaric started the car, but didn't immediately pull away from the curb. Why was he helping Damon? The guy had tried to kill him. He had killed his wife for all intents and purposes. Though, to be fair, Alaric had already put that behind him, at least as much as he would ever be able to. He didn't really blame Damon anymore. The vampire hadn't been the problem; he had just been Isobel's solution to whatever the problem _had_ been.

Alaric shook his head as he saw Damon disappear into the shadows, probably looking for a place to climb through Elena's window without drawing too much attention to himself.

The only explanation Alaric could offer himself was that he had seen something of himself, back when he met Isobel, in the look that had been in Damon's eyes earlier that day, when he had danced with Elena.

* * *

Elena was still asleep when Damon slipped in through her window without making a sound. Looking at her face, relaxed in sleep, and the teddy bear clutched to her chest, all his reasons for staying went out the window. It wasn't because he was sick of going from place to place or because John Gilbert was a problem he hadn't quite figured out how to deal with. It wasn't even the fact that the tomb vampires were still running around town or that he was sure that, sooner or later, Isobel would make an appearance. It was much simpler than that.

He didn't want to leave her.

Sure, hanging around Mystic Falls and Elena had started out as a way to piss Stefan off, but somewhere along the line … he had started caring about her. He wasn't sure when – maybe when she had saved his life back in Atlanta – but that didn't matter; the point was that he did.

He drew in a deep, unneeded breath and then slowly let it out. There. He had admitted it to himself. Admitting it was the first step to recovery, right? Or that was AA, probably didn't apply to this … whatever it was. Feelings. He didn't like them. But, somehow, he couldn't bring himself to flip that little internal switch that would make them go away, not even remembering the way it had ended the last time he had let himself care about someone. But Elena wasn't Katherine, of that much he was certain. Sure, they looked the same, which was eerie, but as far as personalities went, there really weren't two people who were _less_ alike than Elena and Katherine. Like fire and ice, light and darkness … good and evil. The last comparison would have made him laugh out loud if he hadn't been worried about waking Elena up.

Convinced that she would have a fit if she woke up and found him in her bed – and when exactly had he started to care about that? – he searched her closet and came up with a couple of blankets which he spread on the floor on the side of her bed that didn't face the door, just in case Jenna decided to check on her niece before going to bed. Snatching one of the pillows that Elena wasn't using he lay down and pulled another blanket over himself. Not the most comfortable he had ever been, but not the least, either.

Before he had a chance to figure out what to say to Elena in the morning, how to tell her that her boyfriend had skipped town, her even breathing lulled him to sleep.

* * *

As she slowly started to wake up, Elena stretched and yawned. She could hear Jenna in the kitchen, making coffee. A moment later, the smell made its way up the stairs and she opened her eyes. She was starving.

Pushing the cover aside, she sat up and threw her feet over the side of the bed … and came in contact with something that definitely wasn't her floor.

"Ow! Watch where you step!"

She looked down at Damon on the floor, and annoyed expression on his face as he rubbed his ribs, which she had just stepped on. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, grabbing her robe from the bottom of the bed and wrapping it around herself.

"No need to cover up on my account; I got a good look last night," he told her, smirking. "And I _was_ sleeping."

"On my floor?" she questioned.

"I said I wasn't letting you out of my sight, didn't I?" he reminded her, sitting up.

"I guess I thought that meant you'd stick around until I fell asleep," she replied, getting out of the bed on the other side. "I wasn't expecting a full-blown watch-my-every-step scenario. It's a little stalkerish, to tell you the truth."

He just shrugged in response.

She paused on her way to the bathroom, hesitating a little. "I guess that means you haven't had a chance to find Stefan?" she assumed after a moment, not turning around as she spoke.

"About that …" he started, and she spun around.

"Yes?" she asked eagerly.

Since he hadn't had a chance to make up a likely scenario, he had to improvise.

"I went back to the boarding house after you fell asleep last night, and he was really wallowing in guilt. He said he had to get away for a little while, deal with everything and get himself back under control." He watched her carefully as he spoke, saw her face fall more and more. When he finished speaking, she slumped back down on the bed.

"He left?" she said incredulously. "Without even talking to me?"

"I told him it was for the best," Damon lied quickly. Anything to get that look off her face. "I told him I'd talk to you, explain."

"Explain what? That he can't be around me?" Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"It's for the best right now," he tried to reason with her. "He needs to get himself back under control, he doesn't want to risk your safety, you understand that, right?"

She nodded, but a few tears still escaped.

"I guess. But I can't even talk to him?"

Why was he trying to defend Stefan? He should just show her the note and let her draw her own conclusion. But no, he had to be all _noble_ and try to protect her _feelings_.

"I'm sorry, he needs to focus on getting better." That sounded good, right? "I'm sure he'll get in touch with you when he feels like he's getting back on track." A little white lie; leaving his phone behind showed pretty clearly that Stefan didn't have any intention of doing that.

"Yeah." She nodded, wiping at her cheeks.

"Great, so no more tears?" he concluded, and she looked at him through narrowed eyes. "And might I suggest a toothbrush? Because, frankly, my dear, morning breath is not attractive, not even on you."

Like he had hoped, she slapped him on the arm and rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, I'll stop tormenting your heightened senses right away, don't know what I was thinking." She got up off the bed and went into the bathroom.

As she brushed her teeth, Elena tried to think.

Stefan had left. She wasn't sure how long he would be gone, or – she tried to be realistic – if he would come back at all. He could decide to just stay away.

"OK, if he doesn't come back, then what?" she asked her reflection. She could feel a constriction in her chest, like just a moment ago when Damon had told her that Stefan had left. She forced herself to ignore it. If he didn't come back, she'd deal. She wouldn't be one of those girls who went to pieces over a guy, that wasn't her. The fact that he had left in the first place really pissed her off more than anything; the reason she had almost started crying had more to do with the fact that she was still on the emotional rollercoaster that had started last night.

She could deal. If she had to, she could. She would.

The determination made her feel a little better, and she put the toothbrush away, stepping into the shower.

* * *

When she got back into her room, Damon was gone. He had left a note on her pillow, and she picked it up.

_Went home to change – don't want your neighbors seeing me leave in the same clothes I had on last night, do we? Try to relax, everything will be fine, and if you need me, I'm just a phone call away. Oh, and I talked to Liz, she found your purse last night, said she'd send someone over with it later today._

_D_

She realized she was smiling when she finished reading and shook her head when she remembered the Damon she had met last fall. When had he changed so completely? She wasn't sure.

She pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and went downstairs in search of coffee.

"Morning," Jenna greeted her when she came into the kitchen. "How are you doing?"

Elena sighed as she took a large mug from one of the cupboards and poured coffee into it. "OK, I guess. Still a little shook up."

"I'm not surprised." Jenna watched her intently as she spoke. "Sheriff Forbes told me that you and Damon and Bonnie found Amber out in the woods. Why didn't you come find me before leaving?"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Jenna, I really just wanted to get home," Elena replied honestly, taking a sip of the coffee.

"That's OK, sweetie, I was just worried, that's all." Jenna paused, drinking some coffee from her own mug. "Speaking of Damon, what was he doing here last night?"

Elena could hear the suspicion in her aunt's voice and tried to think of some way to explain.

"He drove me home, and I was really upset so I asked him to stay until I fell asleep," she said. "I didn't want to be alone." That much was true. No need to tell Jenna that Damon hadn't given her much choice in the matter.

"And where's Stefan?"

Elena winced a little and hoped Jenna didn't notice. "He had to go out of town unexpectedly, a family emergency, that's why he wasn't at the Founder's Hall yesterday." There, an explanation as to where Stefan had been at the time of Amber's attack. Not that anyone would suspect anything; it must have been ruled an animal attack like the others.

"Oh. I was wondering about that. Then I guess it was nice of Damon to step in and help you out."

"It was," Elena agreed, nodding.

"As long as he knows that's all it was," Jenna continued, eyebrows raised. Elena frowned.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," she admitted.

"Oh, come on, Elena. I see the way he looks at you when he thinks you don't notice. The guy has a thing for you."

Elena couldn't help but laugh out loud. If only Jenna knew how far from the truth she was – she wasn't denying that Damon flirted with her, but the only reason was to piss Stefan off. "I really doubt that. We're just friends."

"I just call 'em as I see 'em," Jenna said, hands raised in a motion of surrender.

"Yeah, well, don't." Elena smiled to take the edge of her words.

"Fine, butting out now."

* * *

When he heard the shower turn on in the bathroom, Damon considered staying until Elena came back out – very tempting, especially if she didn't think about him being in her room and emerged in only a towel – but in the end decided against it. She was safe here, and he had things he needed to do.

He made a quick phone call to Liz, who told him that they had indeed found Elena's purse in the woods last night and that she would send one of her deputies over with it later. Then he wrote a note to Elena, telling her about the call, and slipped out the way he had come in the middle of the night; through the window. He could hear that Jenna was already up and didn't want to risk running into her in the hallway. Not that it wouldn't be fun to watch Elena try to explain what he had been doing in her room all night … oh well, maybe some other time.

When he got back to the boarding house, he went through the entire building again, making sure Stefan hadn't been there since he left last night. He thought the note had been sincere and did believe that Stefan had really left town, but it couldn't hurt to make sure. He wasn't going to be taken off guard if his little brother showed up out of nowhere.

He ended the search in Stefan's room and then went though his brother's desk until he found an address book he remembered seeing before. Flipping through the pages, he found the number he had been looking for; Henry, the British vampire who was over four hundred years old and had been the one to introduce Stefan to the idea of drinking animal blood in the first place. It was only logical to think that Stefan would turn to the older vampire in a situation like this.

He dialed the number listed and waited for the phone to be picked up. Henry should be home, since he didn't have a daylight-ring of his own.

"_Hello?"_ Even after over two centuries in America, Henry's accent was pronounced.

"Henry, how you doing, old pal?"

The line went quiet for a moment and Damon smiled to himself. He had never been on Henry's good side and honestly wasn't trying to get on it. In fact, he quite enjoyed pushing Henry's buttons when he had to deal with the other vampire.

"_Why, if it isn't Damon Salvatore,"_ Henry said dryly. _"Though I don't know if I would go as far as to call us _pals_. To what do I owe this … displeasure?"_

"Just calling to see if you've heard from Stefan," Damon replied lightly. "I thought he might turn to you now that he's fallen off the wagon, figuratively speaking."

Henry hesitated, which really told Damon all he needed to know.

"_Yes, I have talked to him, as a matter of fact,"_ the Brit said after a moment. _"He called me from a payphone last night."_

"And now he's, what, sleeping it off? Wallowing?"

"_Er, no, he's not here, actually."_

Damon frowned. "What? He hasn't gotten there yet?" Even if Stefan had refused to speed the entire way there, he still should have made the trip to the little town outside Philadelphia in six hours or so. And it had been the middle of the night – not even St. Stefan would think it was necessary to stay within the speed limit when there was nobody around. He left Stefan's room and went into his own as he waited for Henry to reply.

"_Yes, I am rather beginning to worry,"_ Henry admitted. _"He should have arrived here hours ago."_

"Yeah …" Damon replied distractedly, turning the television on and flipping through the channels in search of one showing the news. "Listen, would you mind giving me a call when he does show up? I need to know where he is."

"_And why would I do that?"_ came the snappish respons. _"I don't even know why I told you he was coming here in the first place, the last thing Stefan needs right now is your influence."_

Damon sighed. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm not looking to undermine your attempt at getting him back to the good side. In fact, I'm all for it. But as long as he's not around, I'm the one who's going to have to keep an eye on things here, so I need to know that he's being a good little boy and staying where he's supposed to be and not running around rampant in the woods here in Mystic Falls, OK?"

Henry was quiet so long Damon started thinking that he had hung up. While he waited for a reply, he turned the TV back off and instead pushed the power button on the computer. The internet was always faster when it came to the news, anyway.

"_Are my ears deceiving me, or is Damon Salvatore referring to protecting _humans_?"_ Henry finally asked, astonished, and Damon groaned.

"Don't make a big deal out of it, OK?" he said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I just know that Stefan would make my life hell if I let anything happened to … the people he cares about, and I have better things to do with the rest of my limitless existence than watch my every step because Stefan's on the warpath."

"_Right, right. I am assuming that with 'people' you actually mean the lovely Elena? Stefan's told me _all_ about her."_

"Among others," Damon hedged, not sure he liked the implication he could hear in Henry's voice. "Will you just let me know when he gets there and keep me updated on how the rehab is going?"

"_Fine, I will. I do not know why, but for some reason, I trust you. Do not make me regret it, because you know I'm stronger than you, even on animal blood. __And, unlike your brother, I would not think twice about killing you.__"_

Damon did know that.

"Don't worry, old man, I'll behave."

With that, he hung up the phone and sat down at the desk, opening the internet browser and making his way to a local news site. Nothing. He went to a Washington based newspaper and sighed when he found what he had been expecting.

_**Local girl missing after party. **_

_Hannah Peterson, age sixteen, went missing late last night after a party at a friend's house in Dumfries, Virginia. Witnesses saw her leaving the house a little after midnight, but she never made it home. According to her parents, Hannah used to cut through the park when walking home from the friend at whose house the party was being held, instead of taking the longer way around. Authorities are searching the area Hannah would have walked through but have yet to find any traces of the teenage girl._

He didn't bother reading further. At least that solved the question whether or not he was going to tell Elena where Stefan was. If she knew where he had gone, she would find out about this. And there was no need for her to worry even more.

* * *

Later that day, Elena was in her room, trying to get some homework done, when the doorbell rang. A moment later, she heard Jenna call for her and made her way downstairs to find Caroline's mom at the door, holding out her purse.

"Thank you, Sheriff Forbes, but you didn't have to come all the way here just to give me that," she said, taking the purse from the sheriff.

"I know, but I wanted to check up on you as well," the older woman replied, scrutinizing Elena. "How are you feeling? We're setting up grief councilors at the school, maybe you should talk to one of them on Monday?"

Right, and say what? My boyfriend is a vampire that usually only drinks animal blood, but when he was hurt I made him take some of mine and then he went crazy and attacked Amber? She wasn't all that interested in spending the rest of high school locked up in a padded cell.

"Thanks, Sheriff, I'll think about it," she said, trying to look as if she was seriously considering it.

"And there's going to be a memorial service for Amber at the school tonight, at seven. I know Caroline's very upset, I thought maybe you could go together? Support each other."

"That sounds like a good idea." Elena nodded. "I'll call Caroline later."

"Great." Sheriff Forbes hesitated. "And promise to think about seeing one of the councilors. Sometimes it helps to talk about these things."

It probably would. Problem was, there weren't very many people she actually _could_ talk to …

She said goodbye to the sheriff and went back to her room, pulling her cell from the purse as she climbed the stairs. No missed calls. She flipped through the phone book and hit 'Call' when she got to Stefan's cell number, but it went straight to voicemail again. Damon hadn't said anything, but she realized it was possible that Stefan had left his phone at the house. If he didn't want to be distracted …

God, this was so hard! Was she supposed to just leave him alone, let him work through this on his own? She really wanted to be there for him, but if he didn't want that …

If she was going to look at the situation objectively, things had been a little weird between them lately, and when Damon had told her about Stefan still drinking human blood, she had though that that must be the reason … but maybe it wasn't. Maybe they had just started to grow apart …

She wasn't sure how that made her feel. And that, in turn, confused her. Shouldn't she be more upset? And what did it say about her and their relationship that she wasn't?

"When did things get so complicated?" she asked herself out loud.

"Talking to yourself, never a good sign."

Her eyes flew up to find Damon sitting on the windowsill, the window open behind him. She could have sworn that she had closed that earlier …

"You've got to stop doing that," she complained, closing the door behind her so Jenna wouldn't hear. No need to put fuel on her Damon-has-a-thing-for-you fire. "One of these days, I'm going to have a heart attack, and you'll have no-one to blame but yourself."

"A likely scenario," he replied sarcastically. "Because seventeen-year-olds drop dead from heart failure all the time."

"It could happen."

"So what's complicated?" he asked, returning to the original subject. "Aside from life – or death, for that matter – in general, I mean."

Since she wasn't really interested in discussing her relationship with his brother, she went with something that was a little less complicated, but still complicated enough.

"Sheriff Forbes said that they're having grief councilors talk to the kids at school, and she suggested I talk to one of them," she told him as she sat down on her bed and pulled her legs up under her. "I'll probably have to go in, at least once, or they'll think I'm suppressing the memory or something. But what am I going to say? Yeah, I'm really upset because my boyfriend killed one of my friends? I doubt that would go down well."

"Yeah, you might want to leave out that part," he said. "Not that you wouldn't look cute in a straitjacket."

She threw a pillow at him. "Not funny."

"On the contrary." He caught the pillow without difficulty and lobbed it back onto her bed. "I thought it was very funny."

"Can you be serious for one second?" she asked, not sure why she bothered. Of course he couldn't.

"It has been known to happen." He flashed her a smile. "_Seriously_, though, you're right. You should talk to them, it would be suspicious if you didn't. You were the one who found the body, after all. And you don't have to talk about what happened. Aren't shrinks all about feelings and crap? Just talk about how it's affected you."

"Right, I can't talk to my boyfriend because he left after killing my friend."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Apart from that. Pretend I'm the councilor." He moved to the chair at her desk and sat down, putting on a solemn face and scrutinizing her. "So, Miss Gilbert, how are you feeling after the horrible thing that has happened?"

She had to suppress a giggle, and he shook his head in disappointment.

"You might not want to laugh when they ask how you're feeling, they'll take it as an early sign of insanity or something," he pointed out.

"I'm sorry, I just …" She forced herself to stop laughing by looking away from him, down at her hands. She took a couple of deep breaths. "I feel afraid," she then said, surprising herself a little.

"Why do you feel like that?" Damon asked, all humor gone from his voice. He actually sounded like he wanted to know the answer.

"I guess because it could so easily have been me out there," she continued, not sure where the words were coming from. But she knew that it was the truth. "And also because … next time it could be."

"Hey." She looked up to see him right in front of her, having moved so quietly that she hadn't even heard it. "That won't ever happen. Stefan's going to be fine, and even if he isn't, I would never, ever let him hurt you. OK?"

His eyes burned into hers and she had never trusted him – or anyone else, for that matter, not even Stefan – more than she did at that moment.

**

* * *

AN: So, guys, what did you think? Push that little button labeled 'Review' and let me know!**


	4. Chapter three

**AN: Wow, I got, like, twenty favs and alerts on the last chapter – amazing! But you know what they say, reviews speak louder … OK, yes, I made that up, but, guys, please, please take few seconds to review as well. It's really the only way I know if you like the chapter, or the story so far, or my writing in general … Thanks to EtherealDemon, SophieR565, sunshine2006578 (who is also my wonderful beta!), Nessa Lovegood Lima, Henio41 and subarashii o5 who did review – you guys make my day!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of The Vampire Diaries are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing them.

* * *

**

**Chapter three**

"So, have you heard anything from Stefan?" Elena asked, breaking eye contact and moving a little further from him on the bed.

"Nope, he left his phone at the house," Damon replied, trying to ignore the fact that she had pulled away from him.

"And you have no idea where he might have gone?" she insisted, frowning. She was pretty sure there was something he wasn't telling her. "I mean, Lexi can't be the only friend he's made over the past century and a half, not that he's ever mentioned anybody."

"No, he has a few friends scattered across the world," he told her. "I've called the ones in the country, I doubt he'll go very far, but nobody's heard anything." It was a good thing he was an excellent liar, otherwise the dispirited look on her face might have made him spill.

"So what do you think he's doing? Just hiding out somewhere and trying to get back in control?" She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, leaning her chin on the top of her knees

"Probably." He shrugged. "It's what I would do."

Her raised eyebrows said what she didn't: that he would never be in a situation like this since he didn't find anything wrong with drinking human blood.

"Oh, by the way," he said, suddenly remembering Pearl's late night visit – and also not wanting to get into a discussion about the morality of his dietary choices. He took the pouch with Jonathan Gilbert's invention from his pocket and let the device slip into her hand.

"Thank you," she replied uncertainty. "It's very … old."

He scoffed. "It's the invention we've been looking for," he explained.

"Really?" Elena looked at it more closely. "What is it?"

"Not a clue," he replied, taking it back. "But at least we have it and Uncle John doesn't."

She nodded. "How did you even get it?"

"Pearl and Anna stopped by last night when I was at the house." He shrugged. "I guess Pearl was feeling bad and this was her way of apologizing."

Elena looked at him for a moment. "And we trust her?"

"Not really, no," he admitted. "But I'm not sure what to do about that right now. Let's just be glad we have the invention."

"Sounds good," Elena agreed, glancing at her watch. "I should call Caroline and Bonnie, make plans for the memorial service tonight," she continued, reaching for her phone on the bedside table.

"You do that," he replied, getting up from the bed. "I'll just get going; I only stopped by to make sure you were OK after … everything." He was about to climb back out the window when he felt her hand on his arm and turned to look at her.

"Thank you," she said simply.

"For what? Keeping you here against your will last night?" he joked, trying not to focus on the way her hand felt against his skin.

"Actually, yes." She smiled. "But more for being here, for making sure I'm OK. I know you don't have to."

Oh, but she was wrong about that. He _did_ have to be there.

* * *

When Damon had left, Elena called Caroline, but got a busy signal, so she tried Bonnie instead.

"_Hello?"_

"Bonnie, hi, it's me."

It took Bonnie a moment to reply. _"Oh, hi Elena."_

Elena thought her friend sounded a little funny, but didn't know what exactly made her think that. "How are you doing?"

"_OK, I guess. A little rattled, but that's no surprise." _

"I know, me too." Elena sighed. "I think it'll take a while to get back to normal."

"_Yeah, normal."_ Bonnie paused. _"So, how's Stefan today."_

This time, Elena was sure that Bonnie didn't sound like herself. There was something in her voice that was off, something … hard.

"I don't know, he's gone," Elena told her friend. "I haven't seen him, but Damon talked to him last night and he said that he was leaving to get himself back under control."

"_Oh. That's good, I guess."_

"Look, Bonnie, I know you're really mad about all of this, and I get it if you don't want to talk to me right now, but … I could really use my friends. I'm already feeling guilty about what happened to Amber, and with Stefan gone, I don't really have anyone to talk to." She didn't mention Damon, suspecting that Bonnie wouldn't be particularly supportive of their friendship.

The line went quiet for a moment.

"_I know, Elena, and I'm sorry. I am mad, but I'm not mad at you. This isn't your fault, I know that, and you shouldn't think like that either."_ Elena was relieved that Bonnie had gone back to sounding like normal.

"It's fine, Bonnie, I get it."

"_I'm still sorry. So, are you going to the service tonight?"_

"That's actually why I was calling," Elena said. "Sheriff Forbes suggested I go with Caroline, and I thought you might want to come with us."

"_Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,"_ Bonnie agreed. _"Do you want me to pick you up, and then we can get Caroline on the way there?"_

"That would be great. Six thirty?"

"_See you then."_

"Bye."

Elena hung up, feeling much better than she had before. She had been a little worried that last night's events would have increased the gap she felt had been growing between her and Bonnie since Bonnie's grandmother died, and it was a relief to know that it wasn't the case.

* * *

"So what was the deal with you and Damon yesterday?" was the first thing Caroline asked when she got into Bonnie's car. "I thought Stefan was supposed to be your escort."

Elena glanced at Bonnie, who shrugged.

"Stefan had to leave town unexpectedly, so Damon offered to help me out," Elena explained, hoping Caroline would buy it.

"And Stefan was OK with that?"

Elena frowned at Caroline's incredulous tone of voice. "Of course, why wouldn't he be?"

She saw Bonnie give Caroline a look in the rearview mirror and the blonde hesitated a moment. "Nothing, it just seemed like Stefan was excited about the dance, and I didn't think he'd want to miss it," she then said.

Elena had a feeling that wasn't what Caroline had been going to say, but didn't want to push it: they were at the school by now, and she felt a lump in her throat when she saw the candles the principal and a couple of the teachers were handing out to the students and other people as they arrived. The guilt mixed in with the sadness didn't exactly help, either.

The service was nice; Amber had a lot of friends who all said a few words about her. The principal talked about how they had to stick together at a difficult time like this, and said that grief councilors would be available at the school on Monday for anyone who felt like they needed to talk to someone. Amber's dad thanked all the kids for coming.

Elena didn't realize she had started crying until Bonnie handed her a paper tissue. She wiped the tears away, but new ones insisted on making their way down her already wet cheeks. Eventually, she just let them fall. It was a memorial service, after all. She wasn't the only one crying.

She went home with Jenna and Jeremy, saying goodbye to Bonnie and Caroline outside the school.

"It was a beautiful service," Jenna said as they entered the house.

"It was," Elena agreed.

"I just hope they find the animal that attacked her soon," Jenna continued, and Elena flinched. "Before anyone else gets hurt, or worse."

"Yeah," Elena mumbled, avoiding Jenna's eyes. She found Jeremy's instead, and thought her little brother was giving her an inquisitive look. She decided that she didn't have the energy to analyze it at the moment. "I think I'm just gonna go to bed, it was a little exhausting at the service."

"Are you sure?" Jenna asked. "You don't want anything to eat before bed?"

The mere thought of food made Elena's stomach turn. "No, thanks, Aunt Jenna, I'm really not hungry."

"OK, sweetie. Try to get some sleep, you look like you could use it." Jenna's concerned look followed Elena as she left the kitchen.

She was half-expecting Damon to be in her room when she got upstairs, but she hadn't seen his car on the street, so she wasn't sure. When he was there, sitting on the windowsill like last night and reading one of her books, she felt a relief she wasn't expecting and didn't particularly want to try to explain to herself.

"Is this going to become a habit of yours? Sneaking into my room when I'm not here?" she asked, trying not to show that she was actually glad he was there. No need to boost his already overinflated ego.

"I actually just wanted to make sure you were OK after the memorial service," he replied, putting the book down. "But I'll leave, if that's what you want."

"No!" she said quickly, before she had a chance to change her mind. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to be here. But you don't have to leave. I'd like the company, actually."

He raised a doubtful eyebrow at that. "Elena Gilbert actually wants me around. Alert the media."

"Yeah, well, don't let it get to your head," she muttered, grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts to change in the bathroom – again. "I could always change my mind."

"Nah, you won't," he disregarded. "It's my animal magnetism that's finally gotten to you."

She laughed a little at that. "Yeah, that must be it!"

* * *

He stared at the closed bathroom door for over a minute after she had disappeared behind it. Then he shook his head. "Get a grip, Salvatore," he muttered to himself. "She admitted to wanting your company, it's not like she declared her undying love or anything. Which you don't want her to do, anyway, remember."

His phone chirped at that moment, distracting him, and he opened the text message.

_He's here. Not doing very good. Get back to you when there's been some progress._

"Damn it!" He shoved the phone back into his pocket a little more forcefully than necessary. He hadn't checked the news since this morning, but it seemed like things might be worse than he thought. But there wasn't anything he could do about that, so there really was no point in worrying about it.

When Elena came back into the room, he had managed to put on his usual no-worries face.

"If you're planning on staying the night, you should have brought a sleeping bag," she said, getting into the bed. "The floor can't be all that comfortable."

He noted that she didn't actually tell him he _couldn't_ stay. Progress.

"I'm tough, I'll survive."

He had come over partly to check on her after the memorial service and partly because Stefan had still been MIA and he couldn't be sure that his brother was actually on his way to Henry in Philadelphia. But Stefan had gotten there now, so he could leave. Only he didn't want to.

"Night," Elena said, interrupting his train of thought and turning off the lamp on her bedside table. Of course, he could see her just as well as before.

"Night."

He watched her as her breathing started to even out and become deeper and more regular. When he was sure she was asleep, he went over to the side of the bed and pressed a light kiss to her forehead before making the same sleeping arrangement as last night. He noticed that Elena had left a pillow for him at the foot of her bed, and his lips twitched into a half-smile before he shook his head. No point in reading too much into it.

He lay staring at the ceiling for what felt like a very long time.

The right thing to do would be to slip out the window quietly, be gone when she woke up tomorrow morning. Stay a safe distance away from her: he could still keep an eye on her while avoiding getting more involved. He was already _way_ too involved.

So why was it so hard to get up and go?

His musings were interrupted by Elena's voice.

"Stefan … mmm …"

He sighed. Great. She was dreaming about his brother. Well, he wasn't going to stick around to listen to _that_.

But as he crossed the floor on his way to the window, she spoke again.

"Stefan … no … stop, please don't …"

He was back at her side in an instant, gently shaking her by the shoulder.

"Wake up, Elena, it's just a dream," he mumbled, not wanting to scare her awake. Her eyes snapped open and at first she didn't seem to recognize him: fear was evident in her eyes and she tried to push him away, struggling. He wouldn't let go, and after a moment, a look of recognition replaced the fear on her face and she let out a relieved breath.

"It was just a dream," she repeated, letting go of him and hugging the cover. "Just a dream."

"Quite a dream, to freak you out like that," he noted, carefully eyeing her expression. "Want to talk about it?"

Her eyes flashed to the corner of her room where there was a mirror and he saw that the shelf that had been about to fall down that one time he had been in her room – when was that, a couple of days ago? A week? – had been reattached to the wall.

"It was just a dream." She shrugged.

"Right." The doubt was evident in his voice and, to his satisfaction, she sighed and looked down at her hands.

"OK, so maybe something did … happen that day," she admitted, confirming what he had been suspecting.

"What did he do?" he asked, voice hard. If he had hurt her … but no, that couldn't have happened. He didn't see Elena as the kind of girl who stuck around after something like that.

"Nothing, it didn't get that far," she assured him. "That part was all my own mind playing tricks on me. He … lost control for a second. We were …"

"Don't need the details, thank you very much," he interrupted. He'd had to listen to their nocturnal activities enough times to be able to picture the scenario – with vivid details. Unfortunately.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, that's it, really. He sort of … I don't know, jumped back or something, and that's what happened over there." She nodded in the direction of the mirror.

"But it still rattled you," he pointed out, nudging her leg with his knee so she would move over. When she pulled her legs to her chest, he moved further onto the bed, by her feet.

"Yeah," she admitted. "More than I thought at the time; probably more than it should have."

"Why would you say that?" he asked, frowning. In his opinion, she wasn't reacting strongly _enough_.

"I mean, it's not like it was his fault, you know?" she explained. "It was just … the heat of the moment or something. He couldn't help it."

Of course she would defend him. "You do know what you sound like, don't you?" he countered harshly. "Every woman who has ever been in an abusive relationship."

"That's an exaggeration," she objected. "Nothing actually happened."

"But he scared you." He shook his head, exasperated. "Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Right, because you haven't scared me half to death more than once." She huffed.

"Not talking about me. Talking about your _boyfriend_." He said it more to remind himself than her. "Like I told you yesterday, blood and sex are very closely related for us, and I don't really blame him for wanting … a taste, in the heat of the moment, as you so very eloquently put it. But in a _relationship_," he stressed the last word, "that's not something you do without the partner's consent."

She snorted. "Right. Like you've ever had a _relationship_ with a human. Like we're anything more than Happy Meals on legs to you."

"I've _been_ the human," he snapped. "And I'm not talking about one-night-stands, or even the occasional relationship where feeding is the main goal and you wipe the victim's mind clean after. I'm talking about a _romantic relationship_ between a vampire and a human. It's not common, but it does happen. And it's an unwritten rule that biting is not a part of the sexual encounter unless the human specifically gives the OK." Granted, Katherine had never cared about that, but it was what he had discovered during the past century and a half. There were rules in the vampire society, to keep the humans from realizing the monsters from their horror stories actually walked among them. There had to be. And when someone didn't follow the rules … they were taken care of.

She stared at him for a moment. "You sounded a lot like a lawyer just then," she then told him with a smile. "But I get what you mean."

"Good." He got off the bed and lay back down on his impromptu bed. "Now, can I get some sleep, or are you planning any more sex dreams about my brother? Because, let me tell you, not my idea of entertainment."

"Shut up!"

* * *

When she woke up, Damon was gone. She tried not to feel disappointed, but couldn't quite help it. He had left a note on her pillow, and she quickly read it.

_Thought I'd better take off before Aunt No-Guys-In-Your-Room walked in and spoiled all the fun. See you._

_D_

She frowned at the short note. Not even a good morning?

She shook her head and tossed the note in the wastebasket before going into the bathroom to get ready.

When she got to school, the atmosphere was subdued. No jocks tossing a football on the lawn, no cheerleaders practicing new routines, nobody running down the hall, late for class. People were gathered in small groups, talking in low voices. A few girls were crying.

She kept her head down and went straight to her locker, but she could still hear the whispers around her.

"I heard she was the one who …"

"I know, in the woods …"

"Must have been horrible …"

"Miss Gilbert?" The voice addressing her directly made her look up from the books she had been collecting from her locker and she found herself face to face with the principal. "I would like for you and Miss Bennett to come to my office and meet with one of the grief councilors as soon as possible. Don't worry about missing class; I've already let your teacher know."

Elena groaned internally, but knew she couldn't refuse.

"Sure, I'll be right there, just let me grab my things for first period."

Satisfied with that answer, the principal nodded to her and walked back down the hallway to his office.

"He got to you too, huh?"

Elena turned to find Bonnie behind her. She sighed.

"Yeah, but I wasn't really expecting to get out of it. They would probably think we were crazy if we refused, so might as well get it over with."

"I guess," Bonnie agreed as they started walking down the hallway, following the principal. "I'm just not sure what to say."

"Stick with what you're feeling," Elena suggested, repeating Damon's words from yesterday. "And avoid the V-word."

"Like they would even believe me if I told them the truth." Bonnie scoffed, then hurriedly gave Elena an apologetic look. "Not that I would, of course. You know that."

"I know, Bonnie," Elena assured her. She was sure that, no matter how angry Bonnie might be, she wouldn't give away Stefan and Damon's secret. "And I'm so glad that I at least have you to talk to about all this, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have that."

She thought Bonnie looked a little guilty, but it was only for a second, so she wasn't sure.

"Well, here we are," the witch said, pausing outside the principal's office. They both took a deep breath, and then Elena knocked on the door.

* * *

In retrospect, she thought the session with the councilor had gone pretty well. She had been as honest as she could be without giving anything away that she couldn't talk about, and the councilor didn't seem to have suspected that she was hiding anything. She had been asked to come back next Monday, however, but that was probably more out of precaution than anything else. The school didn't want to be held responsible if one of the students had a breakdown and they could have prevented it.

"Did you have a good day, sweetie?" Jenna asked as she entered the house after school.

"OK, I guess," Elena replied, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the kitchen table. "I had to talk to one of the grief councilors, and they want me to come back next week too."

Jenna frowned. "Maybe that's good?" she suggested carefully. "I mean, it must have been a traumatic experience."

"Of course." Elena nodded. "And I get it, but I don't know … I guess I'm not all that comfortable talking to a complete stranger about my feelings. I've talked to Bonnie, and she was there, you know. But I'll go back, don't worry."

"I know, I'm not worried about that," Jenna said. "And … have you heard anything from Stefan?"

Elena wondered a little about Jenna's hesitation. Was she suspicious about Stefan's absence?

"Yeah, he called at lunch today," she told her aunt. "He's in Chicago with a great-aunt who's broken her hip; she doesn't have any other relatives, so Stefan offered to help out." She had come up with the story during class; it seemed like something that could require Stefan to stay away for a longer period of time, if that became necessary. And if he came back soon, they could just say that the aunt had been admitted to a nursing facility. Now she just had to remember to tell Damon the story so he would corroborate it in case Jenna asked him about it.

"And Damon couldn't go instead?" Jenna asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, Stefan has school and all that."

"Damon's involved with the Founder's Council, you know that," Elena replied quickly, having anticipated the question. "He can't really take off for any longer period of time right now with all the events the council is planning."

"Right." Jenna nodded, seeming to think that Elena's explanation made sense. "As long as everything's good between the two of you."

Elena was about to say that yes, of course it was, when she changed her mind. She didn't want to lie to Jenna more than necessary, and she felt a need to voice her concerns about her and Stefan's relationship to someone. "Actually, I don't know," she admitted. "Things have been a little weird between us lately, and now that he'll be gone for a while … I just don't know."

"I noticed that he wasn't around for a couple of days before he left town," Jenna said, carefully encouraging her to go on. "Did something happen?"

_Yeah, I made him drink my blood to save him from a bunch of crazy vampires and then he got a little too excited when we were making out._

But, of course, she couldn't tell her aunt that. She'd have her committed.

"Not really," she said instead. "It just feels like we've been drifting apart a little lately."

"You're past the honeymoon phase," Jenna concluded, shrugging. "Reality is setting in, and it's not all roses and puppy dogs anymore."

"I guess that could be it," Elena mused out loud. "I just don't know."

"Then maybe some time apart will be good for you?" Jenna suggested. "You'll be able to figure out whether you miss each other enough to stay together when he comes back, or if you're better off as friends."

Elena could see the logic in that.

"You really have the whole relationship-thing down, haven't you Aunt Jenna?"

Jenna laughed. "Only when it comes to other people; I'm still completely confused when it's me."

Elena considered that. "Then maybe you need a piece of advice, too," she then said. "Alaric really likes you. Don't let the past get in the way of the future."

"See?" Jenna smiled. "Much easier when it's someone else's relationship problems."

* * *

Damon made himself leave before Elena got up on Monday morning, and actually managed to stay away all day. He kept himself occupied; talking to Liz about the apparent arrival of another vampire in town and what they were going to do about that, checking in with Henry to see how Stefan's first night there had gone, making a trip to a hospital three towns over to stock up on his blood supply. But when the sun started sinking below the horizon, he was out of ways to keep busy and found himself in the shadows outside her house. He told himself that he was just going to make sure she was OK and then leave.

He watched her, first through the window in the living room where she was watching TV with Jenna, then through her bedroom window, trying not to feel like a Peeping Tom and failing miserably. He was both grateful and disappointed when she changed into her sleep clothes out of view from where he was standing, but didn't move to be able to catch a glimpse of her. He saw her pull a brush through her hair and then disappear into the bathroom for a couple of minutes, before she reentered her bedroom. She paused at the window, leaning out a little and looking around, as if she could sense him there. Then she opened the window wider and crawled into bed.

He waited for over an hour, but then he couldn't resist climbing the side of the house and slipping in through the window. The fact that she had opened it so wide – the past two nights, the window had been closed – must mean that she at least wouldn't mind if he was there.

She was curled up on her side, one arm around her teddy bear, and he stood watching her for a moment before reclaiming the spot on the floor next to her that had become his bed over the past couple of days. His back was going to kill him if he kept this up for much longer, but he didn't care.

Before he let himself slip into unconsciousness, he set his mental 'alarm clock' for half an hour before she would be getting up.

* * *

Elena didn't want to admit to herself that she was disappointed Damon hadn't checked in during the day. She joined Jenna in the living room, watching a sit com and then a movie about something she couldn't quite remember, but the whole time, she was expecting him to call or ring the door bell.

At ten thirty, she realized he wasn't coming.

"I'm gonna go to bed," she told Jenna as she got up from the couch.

"OK, sweetie, night."

She went through her nighttime routine still expecting him to show up, climb through her window again or simply be there when she turned around, but nothing. Before getting into bed, she stood at the window for a moment. She felt … watched, but not in a creepy, stalker way. She was sure he was out there somewhere, keeping an eye on her, and it made her feel safer. She opened the window a little wider, hoping he would get the message.

When she woke up, she was still alone.

But, somehow, she could feel that he had been there during the night.

* * *

**AN: OK, what did you think? Go ahead, click the 'Review' button and let me know, you know you want to!**

**The whole blood/sex thing between vampires and humans is strictly creative freedom; it hasn't been brought up on the show as far as I'm aware. **


	5. Chapter four

**AN: Yay, fourteen reviews on the last chapter – you guys rock! As always, thank you to everyone who's reviewed, and a special thanks to my wonderful beta, sunshine2006578! **

**There are some dialogues from the show in this chapter and, mostly, I have tried to stay close to the actual dialogue, but sometime, my storyline doesn't completely match the one on the show, and then I've made some changes. Just don't want you to think that I haven't bothered checking: I have, but I've changed what I think needs to be changed to work with my story. Also, I might be taking some freedom with the timeline; it's not too clear on the show, so I'm going with one that works for me. OK, that's it, on with the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at the CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter four**

Elena made it all the way through school on Tuesday before she finally caved and called Damon. Just to check in and see if he'd heard anything from Stefan, she told herself as she waited for him to pick up.

"_Yeah?"_

"Hey, it's me."

"_Is everything OK?"_

Was it her imagination, or did he sound concerned? "Yeah, everything's fine, I just wanted to see if you'd heard anything from Stefan."

He was quiet for a moment. _"Oh. No, I haven't. I promise I'll let you know if I do, OK? Bye bye now."_

"Wait!"

For a moment, she thought he had hung up, but then his voice came over the line again.

"_What do you want, Elena?"_ he asked, sounding exasperated. _"I've already told you I haven't talked to Stefan."_

"I heard you. And I'm not sure what I want," she admitted.

"_If you're looking for some sort of connection to my dear brother, I have better things to do than hold your hand until he gets back."_

"That's not why I called," she snapped, annoyed at his assumption.

"_Oh, really? Then please enlighten me."_

"I wanted to talk to you!" She surprised herself by admitting it, and apparently him too, because he was quiet for almost a minute.

"_You up for a game of pool?"_ he then asked.

"What?" Where did that come from?

"_The Grill, half an hour. I'll even buy you a hamburger," _he tempted.

"OK," she agreed before she had a chance to change her mind or analyze the reason she didn't want to too closely. She could be spontaneous every once in a while, right?

"_See you then."

* * *

_

The days started passing by, and they slipped into a sort of routine. An hour or two every afternoon they would hang out; play pool, watch a movie, go bowling, or just sit around talking. Every day, the first thing she asked him was if he had heard from Stefan. Every time, the answer was no, and after about a week, she stopped asking. He would tell her if he heard anything.

Every night, she left her bedroom window open; every morning, she was sure he'd been there. And every night, he was. But he never stayed until she woke up, and neither of them ever mentioned it.

* * *

Elena was walking down the hallway after school when she spotted Alaric coming towards her.

"Hey, Mr. Saltzman," she greeted him.

"Come with me, we need to talk."

She frowned but followed him into an empty classroom.

"What's up?" she asked when he had closed the door behind him. "Did I do so horribly on the last test that you have to break it to me in private? Just spit it out, I can take it."

He didn't smile at her attempt to joke, so she realized it was serious.

"Isobel's back," he said, gauging her reaction. "She came to see me at The Grill last night."

Elena's eyes widened. "What … what did she want?"

"She wants to see you."

Elena slumped down in one of the desks. "But … why? Why now?" She looked up at him, her eyes full of questions he couldn't answer.

"I don't know," he admitted, leaning against the teacher's desk. "She didn't so much explain as … threaten."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, frowning.

"I told her I wouldn't deliver her message and she said that if I didn't, she'd start killing my students," he said, not bothering to sugar coat it.

"Oh my God." Elena ran a hand through her hair. "I'm going to have to see her, aren't I?"

Alaric nodded. "I've been thinking a lot about it since last night, and I figure our best course of action is for you to meet with her and try to find out what she wants. I doubt she'll go away if you refuse to see her, and, quite frankly, I'm not prepared to take the risk."

"OK." Elena nodded, reaching for her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" Alaric asked.

"Damon," she replied, holding the phone to her ear. "Hey, it's me. Can you come to the school? Something's come up … I'll tell you when you get here. I'm in the history classroom with Mr. Saltzman, down the hall from … OK, see you in a bit."

"Are you sure it's a good thing to bring him into this?" Alaric questioned when she had hung up. "I mean, he's more or less the reason we're in this mess to begin with, if he hadn't turned Isobel back when …"

"She would have found someone else to do it," Elena interrupted him. "And I trust him."

Alaric considered this for a moment. He had noticed that Elena had been spending a lot of time with Damon since Stefan had left. He had thought it was only natural for her to want to stay close to the remaining Salvatore, to keep some sort of connection to his missing brother. Now he started to wonder if that was all there was. He had been more or less sure that there was something there on Damon's side since the night of the Miss Mystic Falls pageant; were there some feelings on hers as well?

They waited in silence the five minutes it took Damon to get to the school.

"What kind of trouble did you get into now, Buffy?" he asked with a smirk when he sauntered into the classroom. "Piss off the wrong vamp?"

"It's not so much what _I_ did as what _you_ did," Alaric retorted dryly. "You should know by now that history always comes back to bite you in the ass when you least expect it."

Damon frowned and turned to Elena. "Explanation, please."

"Isobel's in town," Elena told him.

Whatever reaction he had been expecting from Damon, Alaric thought, it wasn't the one he saw. The vampire glanced around the room, checking the windows as if expecting an attack, then moved closer to Elena. Like he was trying to protect her.

"What does she want?" he asked after a moment, addressing Alaric again.

"To see Elena."

"Yeah, well, that's not gonna happen." Damon turned to face Elena. "You don't have to see her, OK?"

"Actually, I do," she replied, sighing. "She's threatening to start killing students."

"Leave it to me; I'll make sure she doesn't hurt you or anyone else, ever again." The look in Damon's eyes made it perfectly clear what he had in mind.

"You're not killing her!" Alaric objected forcefully.

"Why not?" Damon retorted. "I'll only be doing what you thought I'd already done years ago. Call it wrapping up unfinished business or whatever you want."

"No," Elena cut into the conversation and Damon turned towards her again. "I don't want you to kill her. I actually … I want to see her."

"Why?" Damon asked, sitting down backwards in the desk in front of the one Elena was occupying so he could look her in the eye. "She gave you up, she doesn't deserve your sympathy or anything else, so you shouldn't feel like you owe her anything." As he spoke, he got more and more worked up.

"I know," Elena assured him, placing her hand on top of his, which was resting on the desk between them, to calm him down. "And that's not why. But you have to understand that I need answers. Not just about why she's here or what she wants, but about _me_."

He considered this for a moment, scrutinizing her through narrowed eyes. Finally, he nodded. "OK. But you're not going alone."

"I'm fine with that," she readily agreed, sounding relieved.

"So how are we going to do this?" Damon glanced at Alaric over his shoulder.

"A public place is probably the best way to go," the teacher replied. "A crowd will hopefully at least slow her down a little if she doesn't get what she wants."

"Which is what, exactly?" Damon wondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Alaric replied.

"I think we can safely assume that she's not here to bond, at least," Elena mumbled, looking down at her hands.

"Hey," Damon said, waiting until she looked up at him before he continued. "That's her loss, OK?"

Elena nodded, still looking a little sad.

"OK, well, we're gonna get out of here," Damon announced, getting up and pulling Elena to her feet. "Give us a call when you've made plans with the undead missus." He didn't wait for a reply but lead Elena to the door. She glanced back at Alaric before leaving the room, offering a small smile.

They continued through the school and were soon in the parking lot. Damon opened the door to the passenger side of his car, but Elena kept going past it, towards the lawn behind the lot. She sat down on top of a picnic table and then lay down, staring up at the sky. After hesitating briefly, Damon followed her and took a seat at the next table.

"I'm supposed to be helping Caroline with the float for the parade," she said after a moment. "Not worry about why my biological mother, who just happens to be a vampire, is in town."

He didn't know how to respond to that, and they were quiet again.

"You don't have to do this," he said after a couple of minutes, not able to take the silence any more. "You don't have to see her, we'll figure something out. And I promise I won't kill her unless you specifically ask me to."

Elena turned her head to the side to look at him, and his attempt at lightening the mood was rewarded with a half-smile. "I meant what I said, I do want to meet her," she repeated. "Even if I don't really think she'll answer any of my questions, I still have to try."

"Is this about who your father is?" Damon asked. "Because … look, I didn't want to say anything before I had some sort of proof, but I have a theory about that."

Elena sat up straight. "You do? Why haven't you said anything?"

"Like I just said, I wanted to be sure, I didn't want you to get your hopes up if I turn out to be _way_ off." He thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to put it. "You haven't wondered why Isobel ended up at your dad's office that night?"

Elena frowned. "Are you saying they knew each other somehow? I really doubt that, I mean …" She cut herself off and he could see the wheels turning in her head. "You mean … Uncle John?"

He let her think about it for a moment.

"I don't know," she then said, shaking her head. "I just don't know."

"Just think about it, OK?" he told her. "And if you really want to see her, I think you should. And I'll be there."

She smiled at him again. "Thank you."

* * *

Elena was more than a little nervous, sitting at a table in The Grill the following afternoon. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, then looked up, meeting Damon's eyes. He was sitting at the bar and was very obviously watching her.

"Can you be a little _less _subtle?" she mumbled, knowing perfectly well that he could hear her from the other side of the room.

His eyes narrowed a little, but he turned around so he was facing the bar. He didn't like it, but he would be able to hear everything, so it should be fine.

Elena was still shaking her head at Damon's back when Isobel stepped into her line of view and sat down in the chair next to hers.

"Hello Elena," she greeted. "You look just like her, it's eerie."

"You've met Katherine?" Elena didn't know why that surprised her, but it did.

"She found me after I turned," Isobel replied. "Genetic curiosity, I guess. She would be fascinated by you."

The way she said it, like she was talking about some sort of science experiment, made Elena's skin crawl.

She noticed the necklace Isobel was wearing and connected the dots. "Is that how you can walk in the day?"

Isobel fingered the necklace, looking pleased. "Katherine helped me obtain that."

Elena decided to just cut to the chase. "Who's my father?"

"Not important," Isobel replied before she had even finished talking. "He was a teenage waste of space."

"Is it John?"

Elena could tell that Isobel hadn't expected that, even if it just took her a split second to regain control. "Like I said, it's not important."

"It is to me."

Isobel studied her closely, as if deciding whether or not to answer. Apparently, she decided against it, because she remained silent.

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself?" Elena asked instead, changing the subject. She could tell that she wasn't going to get anything out of Isobel in regards to John. "Right after he told me to stop looking for you."

"Dramatic impact," she said, like it was nothing. "I wish it would have been more effective."

Elena couldn't comprehend that the person – well, vampire – sitting opposite her was really related to her. Even being a vampire, how could she be so cold? She knew both Stefan and Damon well enough to know that it didn't have to be that way – it was a choice Isobel had made somewhere along the way.

"Human life means that little to you?" she asked, simply to confirm what she already knew. She wanted to hear Isobel say it, so she could really let go of any illusions, however subconscious, she might have had about connecting with her 'mother'.

Isobel smiled, as if Elena had asked her about her favorite movie or something equally trivial. "It means nothing to me. It's just part of being what I am."

Elena automatically shook her head at that. "No, it's not. I know other vampires, that's not true."

"That reminds me," Isobel said, her smile widening. "How _is_ Stefan?"

Elena flinched at that.

"That's right, I know everything," Isobel continued. "I know what he did. You might have believed that vampires didn't have to be evil before that, but not now."

"No." Elena shook her head more vigorously. "I still believe that."

"And why is that? Because Damon is such a saint?" Isobel laughed dryly. "Please. That man is anything but good, and if he has you convinced otherwise, well … you'll find out the truth soon enough. Probably the hard way."

Elena glanced at Damon. He was still sitting with his back against them but, even from across the room, she could see how tense he was.

There was obviously no point in trying to reason with Isobel. "Why did you want to meet me?" she asked. "Can't be just to catch up."

"Because I'm curious about you," Isobel replied, and a part of Elena rejoiced in hearing that. But not the logical part. And, just like she had suspected, there was more. "But the real reason is: I want Jonathan Gilbert's invention."

"Is that why Uncle John wants it, to give to you?"

Isobel sighed impatiently. "Does it matter?"

"How did you know each other when you were younger?" Elena wasn't going to give up: she was going to get some sort of answer, if only just a slip.

"I used to spend a lot of time here," Isobel said, apparently deciding that there was no harm in taking a stroll down memory lane. "John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one that told me about vampires."

So it had been John who had set the ball in motion. Elena tried to read more into the words than was there, but she still couldn't be sure Damon was right about John being her father.

"So what made you want to be one?" she asked, desperately trying to understand.

"A very long list of reasons, Elena. I'm sure you thought about it too, at one point or another, before Stefan left."

Elena shook her head.

"Or maybe you still do?" Isobel continued. "Has Damon stepped in to take his brother's place? You know how they like to share."

Elena glanced at Damon again, but he was still facing away from her, so she couldn't read his expression.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have what you're looking for," she told Isobel, not wanting to discuss Stefan or Damon. She got up from the table with the intention to leave, but Isobel grabbed her arm

"Sit down!" she ordered.

Elena could see that Damon had jumped to his feet and tried to give him a look that said 'I'm fine, stay where you are', but he started making his way over.

"And tell Damon to walk away." Elena saw Damon pause at Isobel's words. As she sat back down, she nodded to him to let him know it was OK, but he still looked hesitant. "I want the invention."

"I don't have it," Elena repeated.

"I know that." A hint of impatience flashed across Isobel's face. "But Damon does. And you're gonna get it for me."

Elena's eyes flashed to Damon's, and his were dark with repressed rage. She had no doubt that he would cross the room in an instant and drive a stake through Isobel's heart if he wasn't worried about her safety.

"No," she said without any real conviction. She had a feeling Isobel was going to get exactly what she wanted no matter how hard they tried to fight her.

Isobel shook her head in what looked like disappointment. "Then the blood will be on your hands." She got up, grabbed her bag and started towards the exit. As if an afterthought, she threw, "It was nice meeting you, Elena," over her shoulder without turning around.

Elena sat there, unable to move, when she was gone. She was only alone for a few seconds, then Damon was there, taking her hands in his.

"You OK?" he asked in a concerned voice. Elena just shook her head.

"What are we going to do?" she mumbled after a moment, when she'd pulled herself together.

"Let me handle it," he said, and she looked up at him.

"What are _you_ going to do?"

"I'm going to pay a little visit to Mommie Dearest," he replied. "Teach her that she can't just show up like this and expect everyone to do whatever she wants. The world doesn't work that way."

* * *

Damon had no trouble finding Isobel's 'lair' the next day. He had taught her everything she knew, after all. And compelling the woman who opened the door into letting him in was almost too easy. Isobel should have known better than to expose herself like that.

When he heard the door open, he turned from his position at the window in the living room to face the hallway. Isobel didn't look too surprised to see him.

"I thought you'd find me," she said, smiling. "Since when have you taken on the role of Elena's protector? I have to tell you, it's not very convincing."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, ignoring her jibe.

"Oh, you know, got a little sentimental, thought I'd revisit my childhood haunts," Isobel replied nonchalantly. "Do you have the device?"

He flashed to where she was standing and pressed her against the wall, his hand at her throat.

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

She didn't look nearly as uncomfortable as he'd been going for.

"If you didn't bring the device, that's exactly what I think you are," she replied lightly. "Where is it?"

"Doesn't matter," he told her. "You're never gonna get it."

"Oh, but that's where we disagree."

"What do you want with the invention?" he asked, hoping she wouldn't mind shedding some light on what the damn thing actually _did_.

"I'm just doing what I'm told," she replied, shrugging as best she could in the position she was in. "I don't really want it personally."

"Who are you working for?"

"You know, we're really on the same side here, Damon."

"Oh, I _highly_ doubt that." He squeezed her throat a little tighter and was rewarded with a look of discomfort.

"Why, because you're suddenly one of the good guys? Fighting against the evils of the world? Try selling that to someone who actually believes it, Damon." She reached out with one hand and looped a finger through the hoop on his jeans, pulling his body against hers. "I know you so much better than that, remember?"

He realized this angle might be his best shot at getting anything from her. "Who are you working for?" he asked, releasing his grip on her throat and letting his hand slide up to the side of her face, his lips less than an inch from hers.

"Who do you think?" she replied, smiling. She reached up so she could whisper in his ear. "Katherine, of course."

He pulled away to be able to look at her. "You're trying to tell me that _Katherine_ wants Jonathan Gilbert's invention?"

"Well, not exactly." She shrugged. "She wants John Gilbert to have the device. And I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants."

"Why are you doing her dirty work?" He got why Katherine might have looked Isobel up after she turned; like she had said to Elena, genetic curiosity. But how had they come to work together? As far as he remembered, Katherine didn't trust many people.

"Don't kill the messenger," Isobel said with a seductive smile, reaching for the top button in his shirt. "We both know that you can't control Katherine: she does what she wants."

"So do I," he replied, letting her unbutton his shirt.

"Oh really, Damon? You do?" she challenged in a teasing voice, leaning in closer. "What should we do now?"

She kissed him, and he kissed her back, pulling her closer. After a moment he could feel her let her guard down, and in a second he had her pinned to the floor, his hand again closing around her throat.

"Now that I have your attention, listen up," he started, pausing for a moment before he continued to make sure she was really listening. "You do _not_ come into _my_ town, threaten the people _I_ care about. Going after Elena? _Bad_ move. You leave her alone or I _will_ rip you to bits because I _do_ believe in killing the messenger. You know why? Because it sends a message." He slammed her head against the floor. "Katherine wants something from me? You tell that little bitch to come get it herself."

He let her go and got up to leave.

"So that's how it is, then?" she called from behind him when he was almost at the door. "Never thought I'd see the day you finally got over Katherine, but I suppose having her doppelganger around might help with that."

He didn't turn, didn't in any way acknowledge that he had heard her.

* * *

Elena walked down the hallway, so deep in her own thoughts she didn't see Bonnie until the other girl was right in front of her.

"Hey, you OK?" Bonnie asked in a concerned voice. "I've called your name, like, ten times."

"I'm sorry, Bonnie, I'm just a little preoccupied," Elena apologized.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

Elena considered it for a moment. Bonnie was really the only person she could talk to about Isobel without having to watch what she said, and she really needed to talk about it.

"I would love that," she said. "Can we go to your place? Jenna's home and I don't want her to overhear."

"Sure," Bonnie agreed. "But … you're not meeting Damon?"

Elena shook her head. "He can wait."

Since Elena had driven to school, she followed Bonnie to her place. As soon as she had checked that they were alone, Bonnie led her up the stairs to her room.

"So, what's up?"

Elena took a deep breath and then started telling Bonnie everything about Isobel, Damon's suspicions about Uncle John really being her father and the invention they finally had in their possession.

"OK, first of all," Bonnie said when she had finished talking. "Have you talked to John about this? I mean, you never know, he might tell you the truth, even if Isobel won't."

"No." Elena shook her head. "I've decided to do it about a dozen times, but somehow I always chicken out at the last minute."

"You should just do it, get it over with," Bonnie suggested. "Then you'll know, and you won't have to rely on Isobel for any answers."

"Yeah." Elena knew that Bonnie was right. She would just have to pull herself together and do it. No more procrastination.

"As for that invention …" Bonnie started, getting off the bed where they had been sitting and going over to her desk. "I think I might have some information about that."

"Really?"

Bonnie returned to the bed with Emily's spell book, putting it down between them and opening it. "I've been going through it since Grams died. Check this out."

She pointed at a page and Elena frowned. "That's the vampire compass," she said, realizing what she was looking at.

"Yeah, according to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything," Bonnie explained. "Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass, rings and the mystery device you told me about." She turned the page and Elena saw the device.

"Yeah, that's it. Well, a part of it. Damon only has one piece."

"Emily preached her loyalty to Katherine," Bonnie continued, looking at the page. "But she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This was the only way she could think of to help. To let Jonathan Gilbert believe that he'd actually invented these devices."

"Does it say what it does?" Elena asked curiously. Maybe if they knew what it did, they'd be able to figure out why Isobel and John wanted it.

Bonnie looked a little more closely at the page and then frowned. "Are you sure this is what Isobel wants?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Elena insisted. "Why?"

Bonnie looked up at her. "This is a weapon against vampires."

* * *

Damon paced impatiently in front of The Grill, waiting for Elena to get there. They had agreed to meet at five, and it was now almost five thirty. He tried not to worry, tried to convince himself that she was fine, but he was starting to have trouble believing himself.

She wasn't answering her phone. Katherine was looking for the damn invention. He had told Isobel to tell Katherine to come get it herself if she wanted it. What if she had done exactly that? He didn't even want to think about what might happen if Katherine and Elena crossed paths. And he wouldn't put it past Isobel to go after her own daughter to get him to hand over the device.

At that moment, he saw Elena walk down the street towards him.

"Where the hell have you been?" he lashed out at her before he could stop himself.

"Hi, Damon, good to see you too," she replied, completely unfazed by his anger.

"You know the great thing about cell phones?" he asked as he followed her into The Grill. "You can take them _anywhere_ so that people can reach you at _any_ time."

"Sorry, I was talking to Bonnie," she apologized, not sounding nearly as repentant as he thought she should, sliding into a booth as far from the other patrons as possible.

"Oh, well, that makes it all better," he said sarcastically, sitting down opposite her.

"She had some important information," Elena told him.

"Oh, really, what did Broom-Hilda have to say that was _so_ helpful?"

"You don't have to be mean," Elena pointed out dryly. "She's just trying to help."

"Just tell me what she said."

She looked at him through narrowed eyes for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to bother telling him. "Jonathan Gilbert didn't actually invent anything," she revealed after a moment. "Emily put spells on the things he thought he'd invented, like the compass and that device, to help the people here fight the vampires."

"Really?" This was interesting, but not really helpful. "Should have known that little witch would pull something like that."

"Anyway, her spell book had information about the mystery device," Elena continued.

"And what exactly does it do?" Damon asked, getting a little impatient.

"It's a weapon." Elena paused. "Against vampires."

* * *

**AN: OK, what did you think about my little changes in the dialogues? Like/dislike? Let me know. It's easy; just click that little button at the bottom of the page that says 'Review'.**


	6. Chapter five

**AN: As always, thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. Every time there's an e-mail with 'Review alert' in my inbox, it puts a smile on my face. And lots of hugs to my amazing beta, sunshine2006578! Again, some dialogue from the show in this chapter, but I've tampered a little with parts of it to fit my story better. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at the CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter five**

Damon frowned. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Why would Katherine want John to have a weapon against vampires?"

"Katherine?" Elena's eyes widened. "What do you mean _Katherine_?"

"You're not the only one who's been investigating today. I paid a little visit to Isobel earlier, and she told me she was working for Katherine and that _she_ wanted John to have Jonathan's invention," he explained. "But I can't see why she would expose herself like that. I mean, what's to stop him from using it against her?"

"_Katherine's_ behind all this?" Elena asked incredulously. "Is she here, in town?"

"No, no." Damon shook his head. "No, I really don't think so. She wouldn't want to get her hands dirty. Trust me, she's overseeing things from somewhere else."

"I can't believe it." Elena sighed. "Like we don't have enough problems, now we're going to have to worry about Katherine too?"

"If Isobel was telling the truth," he said, a thought occurring to him. "I mean, she admitted to knowing Katherine, meaning she probably knows the whole story about back in 1864. She could think that Katherine's name would mean something and just be using it to get me to cooperate."

Elena contemplated that for a moment, studying him closely. "And does it?" she then asked, looking down at the table.

He frowned. Was she asking because she was worried he'd switch sides, or for some other reason? "Are you insane?" She looked up at him and he continued, "I might have spent a century and a half looking for her like a lovesick fool, but that was when I thought she was stuck in that tomb. The fact that she's been out here all this time not giving a damn about me sort of put a damper on whatever feelings were still there, if you know what I mean."

A look of relief flashed across Elena's face. "So I don't have to worry about you leaving me hanging and going off and joining forces with her?" She tried to sound like she was joking, but he could hear that she had really been worried.

"No," he told her sincerely. "That's never going to happen."

She nodded. "Good to know."

"Now, what are we going to do about Isobel and John?" he asked, deciding it was time to change the subject.

"As far as Jonathan's invention goes, I have no idea," Elena replied. "But I am at least going to confront John about whether or not he is my father."

"You sure you're ready for that?" Damon asked, scrutinizing her face.

"No. But I need to know." She shook her head. "The funny thing is, I've never liked him. I mean, he's my uncle and family's family, but … he's always sort of creeped me out."

"This doesn't have to change anything," he pointed out. "I'm sure he'll find someone else to bother once he realizes he's not getting the device. He'll be out of your life in no time."

"Yeah." Elena sighed and started sliding out of the booth. "Might as well get it over with, before I chicken out again."

"You want some moral support?" he offered, getting to his feet as well.

"Thanks, but I think I need to do this on my own," she replied, squeezing his arm gratefully. "But I'll call you later, OK?"

"Sure." He watched her as she crossed the room and left the restaurant, waiting a moment before he left too. When he got out onto the street, he wasn't sure what to do, so he pulled out his cell phone and called Henry. The Brit had said that he'd call when there had been progress, but it had been almost two weeks now without a word from him. Damon was getting impatient – and he didn't do impatient – and wanted to know what was going on.

"_Yes?"_

"Henry. You don't call, you don't write. Is that any way to treat a friend?"

A dry laugh came over the line. _"We're hardly friends, Damon. What do you want?"_

"I can't call to check in on my own brother? That's harsh."

"_Did I or did I not tell you I would call you when I had made some progress with him?"_ Henry asked rhetorically.

"Well, yes, you did, but I'm not known for my patience. What's been going on?"

"_Do you rejoice in hearing how you're brother's struggling, is that what this is about? Do you want me to tell you about how he's tormenting himself, reliving those poor girls' deaths, having nightmares about how it could have been Elena in their places?"_

Damon felt a twinge of something he couldn't quite place … fear? It wasn't a feeling he was overly familiar with, but the thought of Elena and not Amber being out in the woods with Stefan that night … no, he wasn't going to think about that.

"Is he back on Bambi blood?" he asked, shaking the feeling off. "That's all I need to know."

"_Currently, he's not on any kind of blood,"_ Henry replied.

"What? He's refusing to eat?" So classically Stefan, it was almost funny.

"_That is correct."_

"Well … make him eat something," Damon said exasperatedly. Did he have to take care of everything?

"_It's not quite that simple,"_ Henry said dryly. _"It's not only about an unwillingness to feed; it's about so much more. He's reliving every evil thing he has ever done, every innocent life he's ever taken. And, to top it off, he's blaming himself for everything _you've_ ever done, as well. Saying how it's his fault you're even a vampire, that he should have let you die when you wanted to."_

Damon shook his head. It was just like Stefan to do this, to take the blame for everything. "Let me talk to him," he ordered.

"_I'm sorry Damon,"_ Henry said, sounding anything but. _"He doesn't want to speak to you."_

Damon groaned. "Damn it, Henry, am I going to have to come up there? Because it doesn't sound like you're handling this very well."

"_Not quite yet,"_ the Brit objected. _"I still have a few aces up my sleeve. I'll let you know if things get worse, alright?"_

Damon sighed. "Fine. You get one week. If he's still hunger-striking then, I'm stepping in."

"_Very well,"_ Henry agreed. _"I will call you one week from today."_

Damon hung up, shoving the phone into his pocket. "You better."

* * *

The house was empty when Elena got home. She found a note, saying that Jenna was having dinner with Alaric and didn't know when she'd be back and to order pizza, and a twenty pinned to the fridge. Elena smiled to herself, glad to see that Jenna seemed to have taken her advice about Alaric.

She was a little relieved that John wasn't home. Despite her telling Damon that she was going to confront him, she didn't feel quite ready. Her relief was short lived, however; John and Jeremy walked through the front door ten minutes after she had gotten home.

"Hey Jere, how was school?" she asked, avoiding looking at John.

"It was school," Jeremy replied. "You were there." And he started climbing the stairs.

"I'm ordering pizza for dinner," Elena called after him. "Half mushroom, half pepperoni?"

"Whatever."

The door to his bedroom slammed shut and Elena sighed. What was up with him these days?

"Cut the kid some slack," John told her. "He's got girl problems."

Elena frowned. "What do you know about Jeremy's problems? It's not like _you've_ been around since Mom and Dad died."

She turned her back on him and went into the living room.

"True," he said, following her. "I figured it would be easier for all of you if I let Jenna handle this. Your parents did name her your guardian, after all."

"Yeah, they did." She crossed her arms over her chest and turned to face him. "Why is that, do you think?"

He looked surprised at her question. "I suppose they thought she'd be best suited to take care of you."

"And why not you?" Elena continued. "I mean, considering you're my biological father and all that."

His eyes widened and he looked like he was going to say something, but closed his mouth again without any words coming out.

"Are you going to deny it?" she asked, challenging him to do exactly that.

He shook his head. "Doesn't seem to be any point in trying," he replied, sitting down on the couch. She took a seat at the opposite end, as far away from him as possible.

"Why haven't you ever said anything?" She could hear that the fight had gone out of her voice; she just wanted answers.

"It wasn't my place," he told her, holding his hands up when she was about to object. "Grayson and Miranda wanted to tell you when they thought you were ready. I couldn't just swoop in and reveal everything, could I? You're still their daughter."

Elena sighed. "I guess. But why didn't _they _tell me? What were they waiting for?"

He shrugged. "At first, I think they just wanted you to be old enough to be able to understand. But then … I think they let it go too far just to one day realize that they had missed the ideal opportunity. They were probably afraid you'd ask why they hadn't told you sooner. And then they …" He didn't complete the sentence.

"So why didn't _you_ tell me after they died?" she said, getting worked up again. "Did you just not want to deal with it? Did you think I'd want something from you? Because I don't."

The expression on his face looked almost … sad when he answered. "No. I just didn't want to put even more on your plate. You had enough to deal with, losing your parents like that. But I am sorry I didn't tell you before you found out from someone else."

She considered that for a moment. "OK, I believe you."

"In fact, part of the reason I came back was because I thought it was time to tell you the truth," he continued. "I just didn't think Isobel would beat me to it."

"Isobel didn't tell me," Elena said, shaking her head. "She wouldn't say anything."

John frowned. "Then how did you …?"

"I'm not stupid." Elena didn't see any point in bringing Damon into the conversation. "Isobel didn't even live in Mystic Falls but she just appeared out of the blue at my dad's doctor's office? What are the odds of that?"

Somehow, John seemed pleased that she had figured it out on her own. "I always knew you were smart." He smiled. "Not sure where you got that from."

Elena didn't smile at the attempted joke.

"Too soon?" he asked and she nodded. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She got up from the couch. "Would you order pizza? I need to … I just …"

"Sure," he assured her.

"Thanks."

As she climbed the stairs, she pulled out her phone and called Damon. While she waited for him to pick up, she contemplated the fact that it was no longer Stefan she wanted to call in these situations. Even after he had left, her first instinct had been to call him when something happened that rattled her. When had that changed? Though she knew, on a logical level, that she wouldn't be able to talk to him, shouldn't she still _want_ to?

She was relieved when Damon picked up and ended her internal musings. _"How did it go?"_

She was used to his way of cutting straight to the chase by now, but couldn't help but tease him a little. "Hello to you too. It went good, I guess. He didn't even try to deny it."

"_And how do you feel about it now that you know the truth?"_

She sighed. "I don't know, I haven't really had any time to process it yet."

"_I'm here if you want to talk."_

"I know." She smiled. "And thank you. But right now I think I need a little time to myself to wrap my mind around all of this."

"_OK."_ He sounded a little reluctant, but didn't push it. _"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"_

"Yeah, but I have to stay a while after school, the floats for the parade, remember?" she reminded him.

"_Right,"_ he replied, confirming her suspicion that he had forgotten. Not that she could blame him – they had a _lot_ more important things to worry about. Which was why she wanted to take part in the preparations for the parade in the first place, to get away from all the other stuff in her life for a little while.

"So how about I meet you at The Grill, say sevenish? I'll let you buy me dinner."

"_How very generous of you,"_ he said dryly. _"See you then."_

He hung up and she tossed her phone onto the bedside table.

Unfortunately, her plans to get to the bottom of how she felt about Uncle John actually being her father were interrupted by other, more pressing thoughts.

Stefan had only been gone two weeks, and she already felt like she hadn't seen him in forever. And not in a good way, not in the I-miss-my-boyfriend-so-much-I-don't-know-what-to-do way, but more in the way that she had trouble remembering how much she used to love being in his arms, the way he kissed her, why she fallen for him in the first place …

"This can't be good," she muttered to herself, picking her teddy bear up from his usual position on her bed and hugging him to her chest. Wasn't she supposed to miss him? He was still her boyfriend, after all. Right?

_But he left,_ a little voice reminded her. _Without so much as a call, not even a letter. What kind of boyfriend does that?_

She sighed and slumped down on her bed. There was no point in going down this road, not now. She would deal with this when he got back, when she could talk to him face to face. And, like Aunt Jenna had said, if then she felt like they were better off as friends … she'd jump off that bridge when she got to it.

* * *

The weather cooperated the following afternoon, the sun shining down from a blue sky on the students working on the floats for the parade. There were people everywhere when Elena got out of her last class, which had run a little late. She felt a twinge of guilt for having neglected her duties in the past couple of days and promised herself she'd make up for it today.

She spotted Caroline by one of the floats and started making her way over to her.

"Elena!"

At the sound of her name, she turned to see Jeremy jogging up to her.

"Hey Jere, what's up?" She was glad he was talking to her: their relationship had been very strained lately, and she didn't know why.

"Have you seen Anna?" he asked, looking around the open area. "I've left her a bunch of messages, but she hasn't gotten back to me."

Elena frowned. She hadn't been aware that Jeremy was still seeing Anna. "No, I haven't seen her. And I didn't know you were still friends."

Jeremy looked at her for a moment before replying. "We're more than friends," he then said. "Look, I'm worried something's wrong, you have to tell me if you know anything."

She didn't like the sound of that. She didn't want Jeremy any more involved in the vampire world than he already was, albeit without his knowledge … at least at the moment. "I really don't, Jere, I'm sorry."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you lying to me right now?"

"Why would you think that?" She knew they hadn't talked much lately, but why would he think she would lie to him?

"Because that's what you do," he snapped and she flinched. "You lie. About everything. I know what Anna is and I know that you know. So tell me, do you have any idea where she is?"

Elena couldn't answer for a moment. How did he know about all of this? Damon had erased his memories of Vicki's death, that didn't wear off, did it? So he shouldn't remember anything.

She could see that Jeremy was about to walk away from her.

"No, Jere, wait …" She made to follow him, but her path was intercepted. By Isobel. "Isobel. What are you doing here?"

"I'm your mother, Elena," Isobel replied, looking disappointed at the question. "I want to be more involved in your life."

Was she serious? "I don't want you in my life," Elena told her. Not that she expected her to listen.

"I understand that. You already have a lot of people that you care about. But I've been studying." She smiled, seemingly trying to look like a devoted mother. "Let's see if I got this right." Bonnie passed them at that moment, smiling at Elena. "There's the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." Isobel looked over Elena's shoulder and Elena turned to see at whom. "Oh … sad little brother Jeremy. And there's Caroline." Elena looked over at the float that Caroline was working on. "Obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her, by the way. She had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping. Oh … and there's Matt. Friend, ex … yappie's future ex. Lots of connections there."

The way she talked about her friends made a chill run down Elena's spine. "Matt is not involved in this," she said hotly. At the same time, she reached into the pocket where her phone was and hit speed dial, hoping that Damon would pick up and realize what was going on. She had a feeling she would need his help before Isobel was through.

"He's involved with you, isn't he?" Isobel countered.

"Look, you shouldn't be here," Elena told her without really expecting to get through. "You need to leave."

"No," Isobel replied. "I have some friends here too. Look." She pointed over to where Matt was and Elena spotted a guy dressed kind of like a cowboy. She tried to think quickly, figure out where Isobel was going with this. "See that man over there, standing next to Matt by the float? His name's Frank. He's very handsome, and he's also quite handy. And he noticed that the axle's kind of rusty, which is very dangerous. So all you have to do, is apply a _little_ bit of pressure, and …"

"No!" Elena exclaimed, watching in horror as the man jumped onto the float, making it fall onto Matt's arm. She tried to get to him, help him, but Isobel had her arm in an iron grip.

She stood by helplessly as people started gathering around, trying to lift the float off of Matt. It took half the football team and three teachers before they finally managed it and Elena could relax a little. He was going to be fine.

She turned back to Isobel, tears in her eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about," Isobel told her calmly, like she was trying to explain why the sky is blue to a three-year-old.

"You're doing this just because of Jonathan Gilbert's invention?" Elena asked incredulously.

"Hand it over, and the fun will stop."

Elena shook her head. "No." There had to be another way. She didn't want to think about Damon's offer when he had first heard Isobel was in town, but she might have to consider it … "Damon will kill you before he gives you the invention."

Isobel didn't seem fazed by this at all. "Is that before or after I kill your brother Jeremy?"

Her heart skipping a beat, Elena turned to where Jeremy had been standing just a second ago. He was gone. "Jeremy?" she called, frantically searching the crowd around Matt. "Jeremy?" When she turned back around to tell Isobel, no, demand, that she leave Jeremy alone, the vampire was gone.

"What's going on?" Damon's voice came from behind her and she spun around, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face against his chest. "Hey, hey, it's OK. Matt'll be fine, don't worry."

"She has Jeremy," Elena sobbed into his shirt, barely audible though, of course, he could hear her. "She's going to kill him if we don't give her the invention."

"Come on," he said, pulling her along into the school where they could talk in private. "OK, tell me everything she said." He held her at arm's length, waiting for her to calm down enough to speak.

Elena took a couple of shaky breaths. "She's been talking to Caroline, learning about my life, my friends. She had some guy hurt Matt, and when I told her that you'd kill her before you gave her the invention, she said that she'd kill Jeremy. And now he's gone."

"Damn it!" Damon exclaimed, punching a locker and leaving a dent in the metal door.

"What are we going to do?" Elena wiped at the tears on her cheeks. "We can't just give it to her, John's probably planning on using it against you."

"I'll take care of it," he assured her. "I know where she's holed up, I'll get Jeremy back."

"But she could kill him the second she sees you!" she objected. She couldn't risk Jeremy's life like that. He was all she had left. "No, we have to think of something else."

"There is no other way to do this!" Damon insisted. "Like you said, we can't give her the invention. I happen to like being a living dead person."

Something occurred to Elena. "No, you're right, we can't," she agreed distractedly. "Not if it actually works."

"What do you mean?"

"It was Emily who made Jonathan's inventions work … it's all magic …" Elena looked up at Damon. "What if Bonnie can take the magic away, make the device useless?"

Damon looked doubtful. "You sure Sabrina's up to that?"

"We have to at least try."

* * *

"Sure, I can do it," Bonnie agreed after a moment of hesitation. "I just have to remove the original spell."

"Just like that?" Damon said from the other end of the empty classroom they were in, sounding more than a little hesitant. "It's that easy?"

"No, it's not," Bonnie snapped. "But I can do it."

"Please, Bonnie, hurry," Elena pleaded. "She has Jeremy, and I don't know how long she'll let him live if we don't give her this thing."

Bonnie nodded. "I need some stuff. Emily's spell book, candles. Meet me at my place in half an hour?"

"We'll be there," Elena assured her, pulling Damon along out of the classroom.

"I don't trust her," he said as they made their way to Elena's car.

"But I do," Elena countered. "That's gonna have to be enough."

He considered that as they got into the car. "Fine," he then agreed reluctantly.

"Thank you."

Elena drove as fast as she dared through the town towards the boarding house.

"Wait here," Damon said when they got there. "I'll be back in a flash."

And he was. She hadn't been waiting more than a minute when he slipped into the passenger seat again.

"Let's go."

Bonnie's house was, thankfully, empty. She had set up the things she needed in the kitchen; lit candles on the table, Emily's spell book. If there was anything else, it wasn't something the others could see.

"Where is it?" she asked as soon as they entered the room, and Damon reluctantly handed over the invention.

She put it down by the candles on the table, took it apart and then held her hands over the pieces, which soon floated into the air. The light in the room flickered and the candles blazed, and the pieces fell back onto the table.

"OK, it's done," she said, holding the device out for Damon again.

"That's it?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "How am I supposed to know that it worked?"

"I guess you're just going to have to trust me," Bonnie replied dryly.

"I really don't," Damon told her lightly. "But Elena does, and I'm hoping that'll be enough."

At his words, Elena thought she saw Bonnie flinch out of the corner of her eye, but she shrugged it off. It was probably nothing.

* * *

Elena shivered where she was standing in the middle of the town square, despite the warm summer evening. She had been waiting for five minutes now, and Isobel was late. She hoped it was just a way for her to prove who was in charge, but was starting to wonder if the vampire was actually on to them.

Before she had a chance to panic, however, the air around her whooshed and she turned to find Isobel behind her.

"Where's the device?" she asked.

"Where's my brother?" Elena countered.

"This isn't a negotiation," Isobel replied calmly. "Where is the invention?"

"Where is my brother?" Elena repeated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Isobel looked at her for a moment. "Do you really think that I came alone?"

Elena turned to find the man from the school and a woman she hadn't seen before a few feet behind her.

"Do you really think that _I_ came alone?" she replied. It was Isobel's turn to look over her shoulder where Damon and Alaric stepped into view.

"Oh, Rick," she said, sounding almost sad. "Is this what we've come to?"

"This was your choice," he replied, face hard.

"And here I was, hoping we could patch things up." She smiled sweetly. "Guess not. Oh well."

"Where is my brother?" Elena repeated again, and Isobel sighed.

"For God's sake, call home."

"What?" Elena didn't understand.

"Call home, ask to speak to your brother Jeremy," Isobel said impatiently.

Elena fumbled with her phone but was finally able to make the call.

"_Hello?"_ Jeremy's voice came over the line, and she let out a sigh of relief.

"Jeremy? Are you OK?"

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Uncle John … hit his head. It was an accident."_

He was fine. Jeremy was home. She could hear Jenna say something in the background.

"_But, uh … I'm OK,"_ Jeremy continued.

"I'll be home soon, alright?" Elena told him.

"_Yeah."_ And he hung up.

Elena turned back to Isobel. "You were never going to hurt him," she said, willing it to be true.

"No," Isobel agreed. "I was going to kill him. Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

"Yeah, thanks, I got the message," Elena replied. "Loud and clear."

"Good. I wouldn't want you to go around hoping I'll come back into your life and try to make everything right." She held out her hand for the invention and Elena, pretending to be reluctant, handed it over.

She shook her head, trying to keep her voice steady despite the lump in her throat. "No chance of that happening."

"Then we're on the same page," Isobel concluded. "Goodbye, Elena."

Elena held her breath as Isobel started walking past her, waiting for it to be over. But not yet.

"Oh, and a word of advice," Isobel said, and Elena reluctantly turned to face her. "Stefan's already out of your life. Be smart and cut Damon out too. Trust me, as long as you're hanging around a Salvatore, you're doomed. Katherine was smart, she got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine."

With that, she walked away and Elena took a shaky breath.

"You OK?" Damon asked next to her and she nodded.

"I will be," she replied. "I'm just glad it's over, that she's out of my life." She looked over at Alaric, who seemed a little dazed. "Is he going to be OK?"

Damon glanced back at the teacher and shrugged. "He'll be fine."

"I really need to get home, talk to Jeremy," Elena said, remembering his allegations earlier, before the whole kidnapping thing. "Will you make sure he gets home OK?" She nodded at Alaric.

Damon didn't exactly look pleased at that, but he nodded.

"Thank you." Elena squeezed his hand before leaving him and Alaric in the town square.

When she got home, she went straight up to Jeremy's room. He looked up when she closed the door behind her but didn't acknowledge her presence more than that.

"We need to talk about this," she started, not sure how to begin.

"No, we really don't." There was a hostility in his voice that she'd never heard before and it scared her.

"I don't know what Anna told you, but there are things you need to know," she tried to reason.

"Yeah?" He glanced at her. "Because I'm pretty sure your journal covered it."

Elena's eyes widened. "You read my journal?" How could he do that?

"And save me the speech about invasion of privacy because I read a section about Damon erasing my memory about what happened to Vicki."

She didn't know what to say to that, but she had to try to make him understand. "Jeremy, please, you don't understand," she pleaded. "The night that Vicki died, it was like Mom and Dad dying all over again. It was all over your face and it hurt so much to see you like that. I just wanted to take away your pain. I'm so sorry."

"Get out," he said calmly.

"No, Jeremy," she objected.

"Elena! Just get out! Please!"

She didn't want to leave him like this, but at the same time, she had to start proving that she wouldn't invade his privacy again, so she left the room, turning in the doorway.

"Jeremy, please …" But he closed the door in her face.

Feeling numb, Elena walked into her room, slumping down on the bed. She didn't know what to do, how to make it better.

* * *

**AN: OK, Founder's Day coming up in the next couple of chapters. Anyone curious about what I'm planning on doing with that? **


	7. Chapter six

**AN: OK, so here's the next chapter, hope you like it; Founder's Day coming up. As always, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter – forty reviews and over six thousand hits, guys! And a big shout-out to my beta, sunshine2006578! **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter six**

"Hey, Jere, you wanna order pizza and watch a movie tonight?" Elena called from the kitchen when she saw Jeremy coming downstairs. "Have a real …" He walked out the front door without answering her. "… movie night."

"Leave the kid alone," Damon suggested. "Let him brood for a couple of days, he'll get over it."

Elena rolled her eyes at him. "It's _been_ a couple of days."

"What I'm saying is that there's no point in pushing him," he rephrased. "You push, he'll just pull further away from you. _Trust_ me. I get teenage boys."

"You should, since you're still one on a mental level," she teased him.

"Ouch. That hurt."

At that moment, _I'm Too Sexy_ started playing from his cell phone and Elena raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"

He just smirked at her as he pulled the phone from his pocket. When he saw who was calling, the smirk disappeared. "Sorry, need to take this," he said, getting up from the table and going out through the kitchen door, making sure to close it behind him. "Yeah?"

"_Isn't this nice for a change, me calling you and not you badgering me incessantly?"_ came a British voice over the line.

"Two calls, Henry, that was all," Damon pointed out. "No need to exaggerate."

"_That's funny, it felt like much more than only two calls to me,"_ Henry mused.

"I'm assuming you're calling because you've finally made some progress?" Damon said, wanting to move the conversation along. He glanced through the window, making sure Elena wasn't trying to eaves drop, but she was still sitting at the table, looking through a magazine Jenna had left there earlier.

"_As a matter of fact, yes, I have,"_ Henry confirmed. _"I am not saying that he's anywhere near back to his usual self, but he has started feeding again."_

"Great. Then I can stop worrying about him starving himself to … well, not _death_, obviously, but, _believe_ me, a vampire who hasn't fed in a while is _not_ a pretty sight."

"_That's why I called. I would hate for you to worry yourself sick about your brother."_

Damon chose to ignore the sarcasm in Henry's voice. "So what's the next step?" he asked instead.

"_Well, I've gotten him to start feeding again, like I said, but he's still refusing to hunt. I've brought him food for a couple of days now, but that's not going to work in the long run."_

"Just drag him out into the woods and throw a couple of bunnies at him," Damon suggested impatiently. "How hard can it be?"

"_He's worried there will be humans around and that he won't be able to stop himself from going after them,"_ Henry explained. _"Not that I would expect _you_ to understand something like that. So I am taking him to a cabin I own in Canada. More than a hundred miles to the nearest town, and the wildlife keeps the hikers to a minimum, even at this time of year."_

"Sounds good," Damon agreed. "Just don't get him eaten by a bear or anything, OK?"

Henry ignored that. _"It's a long drive, and since we'll only be able to travel at night, it will probably take at least a week to get there. The reception up there is beyond dreadful, so I don't know when I will be able to get in touch with you."_ He didn't sound too upset about that."_But I've got everything under control."_

"Fine, do what you have to do."

"_Goodbye, Damon."_

He hung up the phone and went back into the kitchen. It was Friday night and Jenna was out on a 'surprise date' with Alaric and wouldn't be back for a while.

Elena glanced up when he sat back down at the kitchen table. "Are you going to tell me who that was?" she asked in an off-hand voice and returned her attention to the magazine, as if she didn't really care. But he knew her better than that.

"Just a friend," he replied.

She was quiet for a moment, debating whether or not to confront him with her suspicion.

"Look, Damon," she started, deciding she might as well get it over with. She was sick of secrets and lies. "I get that you're just trying to protect me or whatever, but I know that you know where Stefan is. You've known all along, haven't you?"

The scrutinizing look she gave him told him there was no point in trying to deny it.

"Yes," he admitted. "He's with a friend, the one who got him into the animal diet way back when."

"Good." Elena nodded. "That's probably what he needs right now. Have you talked to him?"

Damon shook his head. "No. The first time I called, he hadn't gotten there yet. And the second time, he didn't want to talk to me."

"OK. But he's doing OK?"

He tried to analyze her voice. Did she sound like a worried girlfriend, asking about her boyfriend? Or just someone wanting to know how a friend she was concerned about was doing? He couldn't tell.

"He seems to be getting better," he hedged a little. He didn't want to tell her about the self-starvation spell; she didn't need that. "They're apparently going to some cabin Henry, that's the friend, owns in Canada."

"Oh." She frowned. "I thought maybe he would be coming back soon if things were getting better."

She didn't sound too disappointed that that wasn't the case, he noted, filing that away for the future. At the very least, she wasn't crying, like she had when he'd told her Stefan had left town.

"He will, eventually," he assured her. "But not yet."

"OK. So, have you heard anything about John's plans for the invention? Not that it matters, since it doesn't work anymore, but it might still be a good idea to stay on top of the situation."

"You're the one who's living with the guy," he pointed out, glad that she had moved so easily to a new subject. "He hasn't let anything slip?"

"No," she replied, frowning. "He's been very careful about what he says around me. He knows how close I am to you."

"Not close enough." He wagged his eyebrows at her and, just as he had been hoping, she laughed.

"First sexual innuendo today," she noted. "You're losing your edge."

"Never. So, are you all set for the big day tomorrow?"

"Yes, I can't wait to be paraded all around town with my escort … oh, wait, I don't _have_ one," she replied sarcastically.

"Right." Damon frowned. "Well, you know I'm always at your disposal. Day … _or_ night."

"That's two, you're getting there," she said, laughing.

"But, seriously, if you want to, I'll be there."

She looked at him, and, for a moment, it wasn't just about the parade tomorrow. Tearing her eyes from his, she pushed that thought into the back of her mind. Not the time.

"That would actually help a lot," she replied. "Mrs. Lockwood's been bothering me to let her know who my escort will be; she's going to be thrilled I finally have one. It's not very Founder's Day-y to have a member of the court unescorted, you know."

"Horrible thought."

* * *

"I've never been so glad I wasn't born a hundred and fifty years ago," Elena said breathlessly as Jenna laced up her dress the next morning. "Am I _supposed_ to not be able to breathe in this thing?"

"Yep, breathing wasn't a priority to the rich and beautiful women back in the day," Jenna told her in an amused voice. "You just be grateful it's only for a little while. People back then lived their whole lives like this."

"I can't even imagine what it must have been like," Elena mumbled, trying to picture life in the nineteenth century.

"There, all done." Jenna took a step back and Elena twirled to give her the whole view. "And you look amazing, of course."

"Why thank you, m'am," Elena replied, curtsying. "How very kind of you."

"OK, that's enough." Jenna laughed. "So, _Damon's_ meeting you at the school?"

"Yep," Elena told her, choosing to ignore the way Jenna said his name. She didn't want to get into that discussion again, and not only because she was running late. If she was going to be perfectly honest, she didn't know what to tell her aunt.

"Then let's get going," Jenna suggested, thankfully not pushing the subject.

* * *

Elena knew the moment Damon spotted her walking towards him, because his eyes widened and he looked like he had seen a ghost. She glanced down at herself and realized that he must be thinking of Katherine, something she wasn't sure she liked. At all.

"How do you do?" she greeted him when she reached him, curtsying.

"Wow," he replied.

"That's not very 1864," she pointed out.

"On the contrary," he said, offering her his arm. "'Wow' was very common at that time. All the cool kids were saying it."

She laughed a little and linked her arm with his, letting him lead her towards the float with the Miss Mystic Falls Court. She bit her lip when she saw that the spot Amber and her escort should have been in was occupied by a large photo of the girl. Damon must have felt her change in mood, because he squeezed her arm.

The parade was exactly what she had expected. Her arm was tired after only a few minutes of waving and she felt like her face would freeze like that if she kept smiling for much longer, but she hung in there. She wondered what it would have been like if things hadn't gone so horribly wrong that night three weeks ago. If Stefan had been the one standing on the float with her, Amber and her date next to them.

But there was no point in thinking about what might have been.

She was grateful when the parade was over and she could change back into her normal clothes. She stowed her dress away in the trunk of her car and headed for The Grill to meet up with Damon.

* * *

"Mind if I join you for a minute?" Damon asked, looking at the empty chair next to the one Bonnie was occupying by the bar in The Grill. Elena wasn't going to be there for a little while; probably longer than she had told him, since she wasn't used to getting out of clothes from the nineteenth century. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he imagined helping her out of those clothes … but no, not the time for fantasies.

"Yes, actually, I do mind," Bonnie replied, not even looking up at him as she spoke.

He ignored her and sat down anyway. "I wanted to say something to you," he said, trying to get her attention.

"Just leave me alone."

"Thank you." She did look up at that, a surprised expression on her face. "The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don't take what you did lightly, so … thank you."

"I did it for Elena," she told him stubbornly.

"I know that," he said. "But I'm still very grateful and … I owe you."

He thought he saw something flash in her eyes, but couldn't quite place it.

"Yeah, whatever." She got up. "I have to go."

He looked after her as she left The Grill and shook his head. He could see where she was coming from, he could. But was it too much to ask for her to cut him a _little_ slack? He hadn't even killed anyone in _weeks_.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Elena walked into the room, wearing her usual, twentyfirst century outfit. He had enjoyed seeing her in the dress earlier, but it had been a little too much like revisiting his past and he was glad she was back to normal.

"Hey," she greeted him as she sat down in the chair Bonnie had vacated a moment ago.

"Hey there." He flashed her a smile. "You enjoying the ability to breathe again?"

"Yeah." She laughed. "I don't understand how women back then could wear clothes like that all day, every day."

"Well, it helped if you didn't _have_ to breathe," he pointed out, hoping to get her to laugh again. But she didn't.

"That's not funny," she mumbled and looked down at her hands, remembering the way he had looked at her earlier. She had been right; he _had_ been thinking about Katherine.

"Sorry, it was meant as a joke," he apologized, observing her closely.

"Yeah, well …" She bit her lip. "Glad I could be of service today."

"What?" He frowned, not understanding what she was going on about.

"Seeing me in that dress must have been just like having Katherine back for a moment, right?" she said, glancing at him with eyes that threw daggers.

Did she think he enjoyed seeing her like that, that he tried to imagine she was Katherine? Another thought occurred to him; was she jealous? No, no, of course not. He quickly shrugged the thought off. She just didn't like to be compared to Katherine.

"I would _never_ confuse you with Katherine," he told her. "And, honestly …" He let his eyes wander down her body, noticing the way her jeans hugged her curves just right. "I prefer you like this."

She blushed and looked away from him. "You're not just saying that?"

He couldn't help but think that she sounded a lot like a jealous girlfriend. Not that he minded. "Look, Elena, I'm not gonna deny that I loved Katherine at one point, or at least I _thought_ I did. But that's in the past, OK? I wouldn't go anywhere near her if she showed up again."

She nodded.

"Do you believe me?" he pushed, wanting to hear her say it.

"Yes," she replied, looking up at him again. "I believe you."

He had never wanted to kiss anyone as badly as he wanted to kiss her right then.

"So, fireworks tonight, huh?" he said to break the tension that he was sure must be visible in the air between them.

"Yeah, should be fun."

They whiled away the time until the fireworks would start playing pool and having dinner. Thirty minutes were spent arguing about whether or not Elena should try to talk to Jeremy, who had come into the restaurant, again, with Damon finally managing to talk her out of it. When it started getting dark outside, Elena threw one last, longing look in Jeremy's direction before Damon dragged her out of the restaurant.

"You don't want to miss the fireworks, do you?" he asked, pulling her along across the square.

She was about to throw back a reply when they heard someone call Damon's name from behind them. They both turned to find Anna walking towards them.

"_You're_ still around?" Damon asked, a little rudely, and Elena elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!"

Anna rolled her eyes. "I'm actually doing you a favor, so you might want to be a little nicer to me."

"I'll get _right_ on that," Damon told her with a smirk.

"The tomb vampires are here. They're planning an attack."

"What?" Elena exclaimed, looking around her as if expecting someone to jump out at her from the shadows.

"How do you know this?" Damon asked Anna, going into business mode.

"I went to them," she replied. "Told them I wanted in, but I was only trying to find out what they were planning. Which is an attack on the founding families."

"When?"

"When the fireworks start."

Damon thought for a moment. "That's what John wanted the invention for," he said as realization hit. "He's going to use it on the tomb vamps, rid the town of vampires again, just like back in 1864."

"History repeating itself." Anna nodded. "But if that's the case, all we have to do is get out of here and let him do his job."

"The device doesn't work," Elena cut in. "Bonnie deactivated it."

"Well, then a _lot_ of people are gonna die," Anna concluded.

Damon scanned the square. "Where are they right now?"

"They're already here."

"Damn it!" He turned to Elena. "OK, you are going to run, as fast as you can, to your car and get the hell out of here, you hear me?"

"No, Jeremy's still here!"

He grabbed her by the arms. "I cannot do this with you here, do you understand that? I need to know that you're somewhere safe so I can focus on killing these damn vampires."

"I'll help her find Jeremy and then we'll leave," Anna offered.

Damon considered that for a moment. He knew Elena wouldn't leave without Jeremy, and he didn't have time to help her look for him himself. Anna would be able to protect her if there was problem. It was probably his best option.

"OK, but hurry. We'll meet back at Elena's house as soon as everything's clear."

Trying not to think that this might be the last time he saw her, he turned away from Elena and went off in search of the teacher-slash-slayer.

He spotted Alaric after only a couple of minutes, halfway across the square. Luckily, Jenna wasn't with him and Damon hoped she had gone home. One less person to worry about.

"Rick!" he called as he approached the teacher and Alaric turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Have you filled up on those little darts since last time?" Damon asked. "Because we're gonna need 'em."

"What's going on?" Alaric looked around him, his body going tense with anticipation.

"The tomb vampires are launching an attack on the founding families when the fireworks start." Damon glanced at his watch. "Which gives us approximately five minutes."

"Damn it," the teacher mumbled.

"Did Jenna leave already?" Damon asked.

"No, she met an old friend and was talking to her last I saw her fifteen minutes ago," Alaric replied. "I told her I'd get us spots for the fireworks."

"Well, we don't have time to look for her," Damon concluded. "Can you text her, tell her to get out of here? Make up some story, just get her to leave."

Alaric thought for a moment.

"She should be fine, she's not actually a Gilbert," he then pointed out, a little reluctantly. "As long as they're only going after the founding families …"

"Then let's hope the tomb vamps are selective," Damon said. "Come on."

They quickly made their way to Alaric's car where they stocked up on vervain darts and stakes.

"Let's go," Damon said, shoving one last stake into his pocket. "We've got some vampires to kill."

Before they got back to the square, however, a horrible sound brought Damon to his knees. It took everything in him not to scream out loud.

"What's wrong?" Alaric asked, alarmed.

"Must … be the … invention," Damon managed to get out. "Bonnie … said she … deactivated … it, little … witch … lied."

"I've got one!"

Alaric looked up to find one of the sheriff's deputies running towards them, stake in hand.

"I've got this one," he quickly yelled back, pulling a vervain dart from his pocket. "There's another one over there." He pointed at a young woman who was writhing in agony a couple of yards away, and the policeman turned in that direction.

"Come on," Alaric said, pulling Damon to his feet. "I won't be able to carry you, you're going to have to do some of the work yourself."

Teeth firmly gritted together, Damon stumbled along, leaning heavily on Alaric. When they finally made it back to the teacher's car, he thought his head was going to explode. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the pain stopped.

He slumped down in the passenger seat, breathing deeply.

"What the hell happened back there?" Alaric asked, turning the key in the ignition and pulling out into the street.

"Like I said, must have been Jonathan Gilbert's invention," Damon told him, rubbing his temples. He had a splitting headache, and he hadn't had a headache in over a century. "Bonnie told us she had deactivated it, but it seems like she wasn't completely truthful." He remembered the flash of something he'd seen on Bonnie's face earlier in the day, and realized, too late, what it was. Guilt.

"But what was it, specifically, that was so painful?"

"You didn't hear it?" Alaric shook his head and Damon continued. "Some sort of high pitched sound, I guess."

"Like with dog whistles?"

Damon glared at the teacher. "Obviously not _exactly_ like that," he replied dryly. "But basically the same idea, I suppose. A painful sound that only vampires can hear."

"Where are Elena and Jeremy?" Alaric asked. "Did they get out before it started?"

"I hope so," Damon mumbled, looking out the window at the darkness. "Anna was going to help Elena find Jeremy and then they were leaving. We're supposed to meet up at the house."

But when they got there, Elena's car wasn't in the driveway. Just to be sure they weren't back, Damon searched the house, but it was empty. He tried to call Elena, but she didn't pick up. Alaric tried Jeremy's cell, but it went straight to voicemail.

Unable to just sit there, Damon went outside and tried Elena again, with the same result. He cursed and took a couple of deep, unneeded breaths so as not to smash the phone against a tree; she might try to call him. And he started pacing, waiting for her to get back. Because the alternative was not an option.

* * *

"Have you tried Jeremy's cell phone?" Elena asked as she and Anna crossed the town square in the direction of The Grill. "I mean, he was at The Grill earlier, but he could have left by now."

"It's going straight to voicemail," Anna said tensely, pulling Elena along a little faster.

"Hey, Anna!" At the voice, Anna froze,

"No, no, no," she mumbled under her breath, but still turned around, a firm grip on Elena's arm.

"What you doing?" The large man – no, vampire, Elena corrected mentally – asked.

"None of your business," Anna snapped back. "Run along now, you don't want to miss the massacre."

The vampire scrutinized Elena. "Isn't that Elena Gilbert?"

"Yeah, so what?" Anna glared at the other vampire. "I got her, she's mine."

"The boss said no feeding, just killing," he hissed. "We don't know which of them got vervain in their blood."

Anna scoffed. "Her boyfriend's a vampire; you really think she's been putting vervain in her food?"

The guy hesitated. "Probably not. But where you taking her? The party's about to start."

"Her brother already left, I'm going to _convince_ her to call him and get him to come back," Anna explained, hoping he'd buy it. "We want all the members of the founding families dead, right?"

That seemed to settle it, because he nodded approvingly. "Good. You take care of that."

As he turned back around and started walking away from them, Anna let out a relieved breath. "I thought I was going to have to kill him," she mumbled, once again pulling Elena along towards The Grill.

Elena didn't know what to say to that, so she just nodded.

The Grill was starting to empty out when they got there, everyone heading outside for the fireworks. Elena spotted Jeremy in a corner booth, alone.

"Jere!" she called, and he looked up at her, getting to his feet. But, instead of walking towards her, he turned in the opposite direction.

"Jeremy!" Anna called as well, and he stopped, turning back around to face them.

"Anna, what are you doing here?" he asked, glancing around the room. "My uncle could see you."

"I don't care," Anna replied, grabbing Jeremy by the arm as well. "We have to get out of here."

She started pulling them along towards the exit, but Elena tugged her to a stop. "There's a back exit; it's closer to my car," she explained, nodding in the opposite direction they had been going.

"Great." Anna headed that way, and they were soon in the hallway with the restrooms.

"What's going on?" Jeremy demanded. "You can't just expect me to … Anna?"

Anna had let go of both of them and was clutching at her head. With a pained scream, she fell to her knees.

"Anna, what's wrong?" Jeremy kneeled down in front of her, shaking her.

"My head," she cried. "Please, make it stop!"

It took Elena a second longer than it should have to make the connection. "Jonathan's invention," she thought out loud. Had Bonnie failed to deactivate it? But wouldn't she have said something if she didn't think she had managed to do it? "No …" she mumbled when she realized what was going on. Bonnie wouldn't do that … would she? Of course she would, Elena realized abruptly. She still blamed Damon for her grandmother dying. Of course she would do something like this.

"Make it stop, make it stop," Anna was panting in-between screams when Elena came back to the present.

"You have to tell me what's wrong," Jeremy pleaded. "I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

"It hurts!"

Elena pushed Jeremy to the side and crouched down so she was eyelevel with Anna.

"Anna, look at me," she commanded, but Anna was in too much pain to be able to focus.

"What's wrong with her?" Jeremy asked anxiously.

"We have to get her out of here," Elena said, glancing around them. The corridor was still empty, but she thought she could hear voices in the main area of the restaurant. "It's a device that incapacitates vampires; they're looking for them and they're going to kill her if they find her."

"Who?"

"Just help me get her up," Elena told him, tugging at Anna's hand to get her to stand up.

"I've got her," Jeremy said, scooping Anna up into his arms. "Where to?"

"My car," Elena decided, leading the way to the back exit. But when she opened it, she saw two of the sheriff's deputies in the parking lot. She quickly closed the door again and scanned the hall, spotting the door to the storage area. "In here."

She opened the door and Jeremy carried Anna, who was still screaming, if not as loudly, into the room.

"We have to get her to be quiet, or they're gonna find her," Elena realized.

"OK," Jeremy said, trying to cover Anna's mouth with his hand. But she bit him. "Ow!"

Elena spotted a shovel in one of the corners.

"No!" Jeremy exclaimed when she held it up.

"It's the only way to get her to be quiet," Elena insisted, on the verge of tears. "It won't hurt her, and if she doesn't stop screaming, they're going to find us."

Jeremy hesitated for a moment, but then he put Anna down in a chair, trying to hold her in place. "I can't hold her much longer, just do it."

Elena tried not to think about what she was doing. _I'm trying to help her,_ she thought repeatedly. _They're gonna kill her if I don't do this._

She wasn't even sure it would work; she wasn't very strong, and Anna was a vampire. But when she brought the shovel down on the other girl's head, hard enough to crack a normal human's skull, she slumped forward and was quiet.

Just to be on the safe side, they stayed in the storage room another five minutes.

"Stay here," Elena instructed Jeremy, who was clutching Anna's unconscious body to him, when she thought the restaurant might be empty. "I'm gonna go see if they're gone."

She opened the door to the hallway a sliver and, finding it deserted, crept down it to the exit. This time, the lot behind the restaurant was deserted, and she hurried back to Jeremy.

As if by a miracle, they got Anna into the car without being spotted and Elena pulled out of the parking lot, trying not to look like she was hiding a vampire in her car. After a moment, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, but couldn't bring herself to release the iron grip she had on the wheel to answer it. She was too afraid it would be Alaric, telling her … no.

She had been able to avoid thinking about Damon out there, incapacitated by the invention, so far. She had been busy worrying about the vampire hunters finding Anna. But now, the idea of them finding him, killing him … she realized she was on the verge of hyperventilating and forced the thought away, focusing only on the road.

Her phone rang again, and she sped up a little, wanting to get home as fast as possible. If she could only get there, he would be fine, she told herself. He would be fine.

She kept her eyes firmly on the street ahead of her, and didn't see him when she came to a stop outside her house. But then he was there, wrenching the door open and pulling her out of the car, into his arms, and she felt her entire body relax.

* * *

**AN: That's right, I'm not killing Anna. I honestly didn't see why she had to die in the first place, since Jeremy didn't even become a vampire. And since I wasn't putting Damon in the basement, I decided to keep her around. OK, as usual, please click the 'Review'-button and let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter seven

**AN: Well, it seems like most of you liked the fact that I didn't kill Anna, which is good, since I'm planning on keeping her around for a while! The rest of Founder's Day in this chapter; it's not over just because they're out of the frying pan! Still the matter of Bonnie lying to deal with, as well as some other problems … Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – you guys always make my day! – and a big thanks to my beta, sunshine2006578. And here is chapter seven, hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter seven**

Damon's arms were like iron bands around her, but Elena didn't even notice. She just wrapped hers as tightly around him, a relief so strong it was almost painful washing through her. She was vaguely aware of Alaric coming out of the house, but at the moment she couldn't even bring herself to ask him if Jenna was OK.

After a minute or two – when the adrenaline started to run out of her – she tried to pull back, but couldn't move an inch.

"Damon," she mumbled, managing to slide her hands between their bodies and push against his chest. "Ow."

In a flash, he pushed her away and held her at arm's length, methodically looking her over for any kind of injury. When he didn't find any, the fear turned to anger. "Why the _hell_ didn't you answer your phone?" he demanded, eyes blazing.

"I was driving and …" she started, hesitating. She didn't want to remember the heart-stopping fear she had felt when she thought about him getting captured, killed. "I didn't want to get distracted and wrap the car around a tree or something."

He let her go and leaned against the car, rubbing his temples. "Do you have _any_ idea how worried I was?" he asked, continuing without waiting for an answer. "I thought you'd get back here before we did."

"We had to hide in the storage room at The Grill, they were patrolling the parking lot," Elena explained, returning the once over he had just given her. "Are you OK? The invention …"

"Yeah, not so much deactivated," he cut her off. "But I'm fine. Rick helped me out."

Elena looked up at Alaric. "Thank you," she told him sincerely.

"Not a problem." He shrugged, looking over Elena's shoulder at the car. "Should we maybe get Anna inside? She doesn't look so good."

Elena quickly opened the door to the back seat, where Jeremy was sitting with Anna's head in his lap. She had completely forgotten about them for a moment.

"The invention did _that_ to her?" Damon asked, frowning.

"Not exactly," Jeremy told him, glancing at Elena.

"That was me," she admitted, grimacing at the memory. She hoped she'd never have to do anything like that ever again. Even knowing that it wouldn't really hurt Anna, it had been horrible. She could still hear the sound the shovel had made when it hit the vampire's head in her mind …

"What did you _do_ to her?" Damon wondered, scrutinizing Anna's unconscious form. It took a lot to bring a vampire down like that, even a tiny one like Anna.

"She was screaming, and I didn't want them to find her, they would have killed her," Elena defended herself. "So I … hit her over the head with a shovel."

A look of wonder, and maybe a little alarm, crossed Damon's face. "Remind me _never_ to piss you off," he mumbled as he lifted Anna from the car. With Jeremy hurrying along next to him, he carried her into the house.

"You can put her in my room," Jeremy said when Elena had closed the front door behind them. "I'll think of something to tell Jenna."

Damon started climbing the stairs with Jeremy in tow and Elena turned to Alaric.

"Where _is_ Jenna?" she asked, shifting her concern from her brother, Anna and Damon to her aunt.

"As far as I know, she's still at the celebration," Alaric replied with a frown. "We didn't have time to look for her before it started, and we assumed she would be fine since she's not a Gilbert. And since the vampires didn't get a chance to _do_ anything before they were … incapacitated, I'm sure she is."

"OK." Elena nodded, trying to stay positive. There was no reason to think that anything had happened to Jenna.

"But, since you drove her there earlier and I was supposed to drive her home, I'm guessing she's stranded," Alaric continued. "I'm gonna head back there, hope she hasn't noticed I've been gone."

"OK, that would be good," Elena agreed, looking up to find Damon coming back downstairs. "How is she?"

"She'll be fine," he replied, waving off her worry with a dismissive motion. "Trust me; she's a _lot_ tougher than she looks. You didn't do much damage."

"I'm gonna get going," Alaric interjected, opening the front door. "You might wanna try to come up with some sort of explanation as to why there's a girl in Jeremy's bed while I'm gone."

He left the house and Elena closed and locked the door behind him.

"I swear, sometimes the covering up is more tiring than the actual _problem_," she complained, going into the living room and slumping down on the couch. Damon took a seat next to her.

"I could always do a little mind reconstruction," he suggested. "Save you the trouble."

"No thank you," Elena replied tiredly, though, at the moment, it was very tempting. "But you can help me come up with some sort of story."

"You hit her over the head with a shovel to keep the vampire hunters from finding her?" he suggested with a smirk and she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, not really helpful."

"What's not helpful?"

They both looked up to find Jeremy in the doorway, looking a little hesitant.

"We were just trying to figure out what to tell Aunt Jenna about Anna being in your room," Elena told him. "Why don't you sit down? You must be just as exhausted as I am."

He nodded and sat down in an armchair. "Look, Elena …" he started after a moment, hesitating a little. "I'm not saying that I'm not still pissed about the way you lied to me and had Damon mess with my head …"

"That was my idea, kid, don't take it out on your sister," Damon interrupted.

Jeremy ignored him. "What I'm trying to say is that you probably saved Anna's life tonight, so I'm gonna try to let it go, OK?"

"Oh, Jere." Elena got up and gave him a long hug, a little awkwardly since he was still sitting down. But at least he didn't pull away from her. "I never meant to hurt you in any way, I hope you understand that. I was just trying to protect you. You're still my little brother, you know."

"I know," he replied, patting her on the back. "And I get it, I do."

"Aw, a Kodak moment, and I don't have my camera on me," Damon said sarcastically, reminding them of his presence. Elena let go off Jeremy and sat back down, punching Damon in the arm for good measure. "Ow!"

"We need to come up with a cover story," she reminded them.

"I think I have an idea," Damon told her, pulling his phone from his pocket. "As long as not _everyone's_ screening me today …"

Elena rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

"Liz, hi, Damon here," Damon said after a moment. "Listen, with everything that happened at the Founder's Day celebration tonight, I just wanted to check what the official story was … uh-huh … yeah, that sounds like a good plan … OK, I'll make sure to tell anyone who asks that … good, talk to you later … bye."

He hung up and found Elena watching him with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't know you were so friendly with the sheriff," she said dryly.

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," he replied dramatically. "Anyway, the official story is food poisoning at The Grill, so that solves _part_ of our problem. And the building with your dad's office burned to the ground after some of the 'old wiring' caught fire." He made citation marks in the air around the words 'old wiring'. "That must be where they brought the vampires."

"OK." Elena nodded, not even able to take in the information about her father's office building. That would have to be a problem for tomorrow. "So, we were all at The Grill when Anna started feeling sick, and we left through the back door and took her home, so we didn't see anything of what happened after that. But why is she here?"

"Her mom's dead," Jeremy said. "Anna thinks Uncle John killed her."

"John killed Pearl?" Damon frowned. He didn't like that at all. "_Not_ good."

"OK, but we can't tell _Jenna_ that," Elena pointed out. "So we'll just say she's … out of town on business?"

"Yeah, that should work," Jeremy agreed, nodding.

"If she puts up a fight, I can take Anna back to the boarding house," Damon offered. "No parental units around to make a fuss."

"Thanks," Elena said, though she wasn't too thrilled about the idea of him leaving. "But I don't think Jenna will be too difficult to convince. Anna can sleep in my room if it's necessary. She hasn't woken up yet?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No, you knocked her out pretty good."

Elena sighed and Damon laughed. "I wish I could have seen it."

"I bet you do," Elena grumbled. "We do have another problem, though." She gave Damon a meaningful look.

"We do?" Jeremy asked, looking between the two.

"Bonnie lied to us," Damon said grimly.

"Why would she do that?" Elena wondered out loud. "Doesn't she trust me?"

"Sure she does," Damon told her. "It's _me_ she doesn't trust. And can you really blame her?"

Elena shrugged. "I guess not," she admitted. "But I really thought we were past this."

For someone who had seen so much of the bad things in the world, Damon thought, Elena was still a little naïve.

"Her grandmother _died_ opening that tomb, which _I_ asked her to do," he reminded her. "I don't think that's something you get over just like that."

Elena stared at him in bewilderment. "How can you be so calm about this?" she asked. "_You're_ the one who almost got killed because of what she did!"

"But I'm _fine_," he pointed out, remembering the brief flash of guilt he had seen on Bonnie's face at The Grill earlier. "And I have a hunch she's feeling _pretty_ bad about all this right about now."

"She _should_." For a second, Elena looked furious. "I have to talk to her."

"Can we _please_ leave it until tomorrow?" Damon asked. "Haven't we had enough excitement for one night?"

"I guess," Elena agreed, not really in a hurry to throw accusations at her best friend anyway.

Damon cocked his head to the side. "Time to test our cover-up story," he said after a moment. "Auntie Jenna's home."

Neither Elena nor Jeremy had heard the car pull up outside but, sure enough, a moment later, Jenna came through the door, followed by Alaric.

"Is everyone OK?" she asked as soon as she saw them. "A bunch of people got food poisoning at The Grill, and when I couldn't find you, I was worried."

"We're fine, Aunt Jenna," Elena assured her. Damon nudged her foot. "But you remember Anna, Jeremy's friend?" Jenna nodded. "Well, she got sick, so that's why we went home early. I guess it must be the food poisoning. She's asleep up in Jeremy's room."

"And her mom's not home, so I was kinda hoping she could stay here," Jeremy took over. "Just until tomorrow, I'm sure she'll feel better by then."

Jenna looked a little hesitant for a moment. "I guess …" she then agreed. "Though I'm not sure I'm thrilled about the idea of her sleeping in your room."

"Come on, Aunt Jenna," Jeremy coaxed. "She's feeling like shit, and she's already asleep."

"Oh, fine." Jenna jabbed her index finger at Jeremy. "But I'm trusting you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Jeremy got up. "I'm gonna go check on her and then I'm going to bed, too. I'm beat."

"Jeremy playing nurse," Jenna said when he had disappeared up the stairs. "Not something you see every day."

"I should probably get going," Damon said, glancing at his watch and getting up from the couch. "It's getting late."

"I'll walk you to the door," Elena offered, getting up as well. "You're not leaving, are you?" she mumbled when they were in the hallway, low enough so her voice didn't carry to Jenna and Alaric in the living room.

He raised his eyebrows. "Not if you don't want me to."

She didn't care what kind of hidden, sexual meanings he would read into it right now. She didn't want him to leave. "I'll be up in a little while," she said, opening the front door.

He nodded and stepped out onto the porch. "OK."

"Night," she said, loud enough for Jenna and Alaric to hear this time, and closed the door behind him.

He looked at the closed door for a moment, trying very hard not to read too much into her wanting him to stay. She was still in shock, and just didn't want to be alone.

"That's _all_ it is," he said out loud to himself, turning from the door to make his way around the house and in through Elena's bedroom window. "Climbing through windows … could I _be_ more like Edward?"

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" John's voice came from behind him, and Damon stopped dead in his tracks.

He turned slowly, a smirk spreading on his face. "Oh, I see," he said when he was face to face with John. "That was the whole point, wasn't it? Getting _me_ out of the picture? The tomb vampire's weren't really the target at all."

"Don't think so highly of yourself," John snarled. "Sure, it was a nice bonus, but my goal was always to protect this town."

"Well, mission _not_ accomplished." Damon took a step closer, getting in John's face. "And trust me when I say that I will _not_ hesitate to kill you if you try anything like this again. I don't care if you are Elena's father, and I'm pretty sure she won't do anything to stop me."

* * *

When Elena got back into the living room, Jenna and Alaric were discussing the 'food poisoning'. "It was just so weird," Jenna said. "I mean, the people who got sick looked like they were having a horrible head ache, and doesn't food poisoning usually affect your stomach?"

"I don't know," Alaric replied, giving Elena a please-help-me look.

"I actually think that head ache is one of the first symptoms," she said, not having a clue if it was true or not. Jenna wasn't likely to check.

"Maybe …" Jenna still sounded hesitant, but apparently decided to let it go. "Did you have a good time today?" she asked Elena. "Before the whole epidemic, I mean."

"I did," Elena said, putting on a smile for Jenna. "But I'll be perfectly content if I never have to put on a dress like that ever again."

Jenna laughed. "Yeah, they might be beautiful, but they're not very comfortable, are they?"

"You can say that again."

Elena looked up when she heard the front door open and close again and frowned. What was Damon doing?

But it wasn't Damon who appeared in the doorway.

"Uncle John," she greeted the newcomer, putting as much contempt into the two little words that she could possibly muster. She might have been able to forgive him for not telling her about her background, but not for this. He had gone too far.

Jenna looked between her and John, noticing the animosity radiating off Elena.

"Is there something going on?" she asked.

"Nothing, Aunt Jenna," Elena assured her, getting up from the couch. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna go to bed. It's been a long day."

"Sure, sweetie, see you in the morning," Jenna said.

"Night."

Elena left the living room and started climbing the stairs, but John was right behind her. "Elena, please listen to me."

"No," she said, not bothering to turn around.

"I was just trying to protect you!" John grabbed her arm, and she glared at him.

"Kidnapping my brother, that's a funny way of _protecting_ me," she whispered, not wanting Jenna to overhear, and pulled out of his grasp. She hadn't confronted him about that yet, and this seemed like a good time.

"That was Isobel, I had _nothing_ to do with it," he tried to explain.

"Right, of course."

"I admit, I should have known that she could pull something like that, but I honestly didn't think she had it in her," he said.

"That makes it _so_ much better."

"Look, I get that you're mad, OK. You have every right to be. But, _please_, stay away from Damon. He's not a good person to be around, and you _will_ get hurt."

"I don't think you're in any position to tell me who I can and cannot be friends with," Elena said coldly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Elena, I'm _begging_ you."

"I want you to leave," she told him. "I know I can't tell you what to do, but you should realize that if you ever go after Damon again, he _will_ kill you. And I won't stop him. We might have the same blood in our veins, but you are _not_ my family, and I don't have _any_ obligation to you."

The look in his eyes turned sad as she spoke, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"I was going to leave, anyway," he told her. "The device only works once, and I've done what I came here to do. Mostly, at least."

"Good." Elena turned to open the door to her bedroom. "Goodbye, John."

She wanted to slam the door behind her, to really put an end to their conversation, but resisted the urge. Instead she closed the door slowly and then leaned against it, letting out a long breath.

"You OK?" Damon asked from the windowsill.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she replied dryly, crossing the floor and sitting down on the bed.

"Well, you _did_ just tell your father that you were going to let me kill him," he pointed out lightly. "Which, you know, I'm _totally_ fine with, but I thought you might want to talk about it."

"Nope," she said. "I'm done talking for tonight. All I want to do is forget about John, Isobel, that damn invention and the tomb vampires. Which, you know, aren't really a problem anymore, so, silver lining."

"I could always … distract you," he suggested, lacing the words with sexual innuendo. Like he had hoped, the corners of her mouth turned up, if only a fraction of an inch.

"Thanks for the offer, but I was thinking more along the line of _sleeping_."

"We _could_ do that." He shrugged. "Won't be nearly as much fun, though."

"Shut up."

She grabbed a t-shirt from her dresser and went into the bathroom, reappearing a few minutes later. Without a word, she pulled the cover back and crawled into bed. She turned the lights off, and he wondered if she expected him to just stay where he was.

"Get in the bed before I change my mind," she said after a moment, and he smiled to himself.

"You don't have to tell _me_ twice," he replied, crossing the room and kicking his shoes off before getting into the bed next to her.

"You're gonna sleep in your jeans?" she asked. "Can't be very comfortable."

"It's not, but since I don't have anything on _under_ them, I figured I'd better keep them on."

"Oh." He could see her blush even in the dark. "Good idea."

They were both on their backs, side by side, for an awkward moment. Then Elena turned, moving closer to him, and put her head on his shoulder. He shifted a little so he could put his arm underneath her and she threw her arm across his chest, letting out a long sigh.

He almost thought she had fallen asleep when she spoke a few minutes later. "You could have died today." Her voice was barely a whisper in the dark.

"I'm already dead," he pointed out, just as quietly.

"Don't joke." She was silent for a moment. "I don't … I can't think about that, about you … not being here, OK? It's too hard."

If his heart had been beating, it would have skipped a beat. "Well, can't say it was much fun thinking the tomb vamps might have gotten to you before the device kicked in," he replied, trying not to let too much feeling into the statement.

She moved a little closer still, burying her face against his neck.

"That's all I can do right now, OK?" she mumbled, and he nodded.

"I know."

* * *

A knock on the door woke Elena up the next morning. Before she had a chance to react, Damon had disappeared into her closet.

"Who is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and looking at the alarm clock on her bedside table. A little after nine; she had been asleep for over ten hours.

"It's me," Anna's voice came from the adjoining bathroom Elena shared with Jeremy, and she let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on in," she said, and Anna opened the bathroom door.

Damon reemerged from the closet. "Oh, it's _you_."

"Coming out of the closet, Damon?" Anna asked with a smile.

"Funny."

Anna just laughed. "I could have been Jenna," she then pointed out, giving Damon a once over. "And what did you do, _sleep_ in those clothes?"

"How are you feeling?" Elena interjected, sensing a brewing argument.

"A killer head ache, which might be the invention, but, other than that, OK," Anna replied, leaning against the doorframe.

"Sorry about hitting you," Elena apologized. "I didn't know what else to do."

"No, you don't need to apologize," Anna objected. "Knocking me out probably saved my life, so thanks. Jeremy said that you were feeling bad about it, so I wanted to talk to you, make sure you don't beat yourself up about it. And I wanted you to know that I'm really grateful." She smiled and returned the way she had come.

"Feeling better about the assault with a deadly weapon?" Damon asked with a smirk.

Elena rolled her eyes at him, relieved that things weren't weird between them after spending the night in the same bed. "Yes, thank you _so_ much for pointing that out."

"My pleasure." He looked down at his rumpled shirt. "I should probably head home, change. I think Jenna _might_ be suspicious if I show up like this."

"Yeah, probably safest," Elena agreed. "I'm gonna call Bonnie, see if we can get together and talk. I need to get to the bottom of this, figure out what she was thinking."

"You do that." He nodded. "And give me a call, let me know if I need to be on witch-alert or not. Her little mind trick is _nothing_ in comparison to that invention, but it's not a walk in the park, either. I'd hate to see what she can come up with if she _really_ wanted to do some damage."

Elena winced at his words, not wanting to think about Bonnie like that. But she had to. Bonnie had seen to that herself.

"OK, I'll see you later," she said to Damon before going into the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

Bonnie wasn't answering her cell, so Elena called her house.

"_Hello?"_ Bonnie's mom answered the phone.

"Hi Mrs. Bennett, is Bonnie there?"

"_Hello, Elena. No, she's not, she's at the hospital. I'm surprised you're not there as well."_

Elena felt her insides turn to ice.

"The hospital? What happened?" Jenna hadn't said anything about someone she knew being brought to the hospital.

"_You don't know? Oh, sweetie, Caroline was in an accident last night, with Matt and Tyler. She was still unconscious when I spoke to Bonnie about an hour ago."_

"Oh my God." Elena scanned the kitchen for her car keys. She had to get to the hospital, now. "No, I had no idea. Thank you for telling me, I'm going over there right now."

She found Bonnie and Matt in the waiting room outside the ICU. "How is she?" she asked, sitting down in the plastic chair next to Bonnie's. Matt shook his head.

"They don't know if she'll make it," he said in a dull voice. "There was some internal bleeding, and they've done everything they can, but if she doesn't wake up soon …"

"Oh my God." Elena reached across Bonnie to take Matt's hand – the one that wasn't in a cast. "What happened?"

"We were on our way home, Tyler was driving, and then he had some sort of seizure, I don't know," Matt explained. "Like a migraine or something. He crashed the car."

Bonnie and Elena looked at each other. Bonnie raised her eyebrows in a questioning look and Elena shrugged discreetly. She didn't know why Tyler had been affected by the vampire device, but it was obvious that he had.

"Matt Donovan?" They all looked up to find one of the sheriff's deputies standing in front of them. "I need to ask you a couple of questions about last night, could you please come with me?"

Matt gave Elena a pleading look and she squeezed his hand. "We'll stay here, Matt, don't worry. We'll call you as soon as we know anything, OK?"

Matt nodded slowly and then followed the deputy down the hallway.

"Why would Jonathan's invention hurt Tyler?" Elena asked quietly as soon as they were gone. "He's not a vampire."

"I don't know," Bonnie said, shaking her head. "Elena, I'm sorry."

"You lied to me," Elena replied. "Why, Bonnie? I thought we were friends, I thought you trusted me."

"We are and I do," Bonnie insisted. "I just … I couldn't do it. I'm sorry."

"You should have just said so, we would have figured something out. I would have understood if you'd said that you couldn't do it. But you didn't have to lie."

"I'm sorry," Bonnie repeated. "I don't know what else to say."

"Damon's fine, by the way," Elena told her. "Not that you would care."

"Grams _died_ because she tried to open that tomb," Bonnie reminded her. "Because of _him_."

"That was _her_ choice," Elena pointed out. "She could have said no."

Bonnie buried her face in her hands. "I know that, I know it wasn't really Damon's fault, but it's gonna take a while for me to be able to move past that, you know?"

Elena nodded. "I get that. As long as you don't try to kill him again."

"I won't," Bonnie promised. "As long as he doesn't kill innocent people."

"He's not the same person he was when he came to Mystic Falls. He was trying to _save _people last night, kill the vampires from the tomb before they could hurt anyone."

Bonnie nodded. "I know, I've seen the way he's changed, especially in the last couple of weeks. And I felt bad about lying to you even before I realized they were using the device last night. I don't know how many times I almost called you to tell you."

"Well, it would have been helpful if you had," Elena said, trying to not sound too judgmental. "If we had known that the device was still working, we could have just left the tomb vampires to John and his accomplices and Damon and Anna wouldn't have had to even be there."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Elena nodded. "I know. I forgive you. Just don't do something like this again."

Bonnie laughed. "Right, like there's another of Jonathan Gilbert's inventions that hurts vampires lying around that I can pretend to un-spell."

Elena smiled. "No, probably not."

Relieved that they had cleared the air, they both sat back and waited for news about Caroline.

* * *

**AN: OK, so, I'm obviously not bringing Katherine back. I already had this story planned out when the whole moonstone/doppelganger/curse thing was introduced on the show, and it doesn't really work with my storyline, so I'm choosing to ignore it – the wonders of creative freedom! In my mind, Katherine came back because of Stefan – so, no Stefan, no Katherine. Hope you're not too upset with me about that.**

**And I totally made up the whole food-poisoning thing. I just thought it was a little weird that there was no explanation as to why people dropped all over town on the show – I mean, people must have noticed, right? So, again, some creative freedom!**

**Channeling a little Buffy in this chapter, don't know if anyone picked up on that … I've been told I sometimes do it without even thinking about it, but this time it was intentional!**

**Oh, and I hope I didn't make any enemies with the Edward comment if there are any Twilight-fans reading this story! I am really a big fan myself and I absolutely love the books, which you know if you've read my Twilight-fics (and, yes, that was a hint to go read them if you haven't!) but I remembered Damon's comment about the books in one of the first episodes, and just couldn't help but put it in there. **

**Wow, that was a long AN, but I'm done now. As always, please let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter eight

**AN: I didn't get any outraged reviews about not bringing Katherine back, so I'm going to assume that most of you are OK with that. This chapter is pretty much the last with a connection to the show, even if I might use some things later in the story. So after this we're going completely AU. 10 000 hits and 69 reviews on this story so far – wow. Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, and a special thanks to my beta, sunshine2006578!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter eight **

After leaving Elena's house, Damon went to the town square to retrieve his car. When his phone rang, less than an hour later, he had just changed into fresh clothes after a much needed shower. He checked who was calling before answering and when he saw that it was the sheriff, he was glad. She would probably have some sort of job for him and he wasn't in the mood to sit around and do nothing today.

"Hello?"

"_Damon?"_ Liz's voice came over the line and she sounded nothing like the calm and collected sheriff she usually was.

"Liz, what's wrong?" He didn't have to fake the concern in his voice; over the past few months, he had come to consider the sheriff a friend, despite the fact that his involvement with her and the Founder's Council had started as a way of infiltrating the enemy's camp.

"_Can you come to the hospital? I need your help."_

"I'll be there in five minutes."

He hung up the phone without waiting for her reply and hurried to his car.

When he got to the hospital, he was directed to the ICU. He spotted the sheriff pacing up and down outside a door to one of the rooms when he turned a corner.

"Damon!" she exclaimed when she saw him. "Thank you for coming."

"What's going on?" he asked. The nurse at the front desk had refused to give him any information, claiming that she could only discuss a patient with his or her relative, and he hadn't had time to compel her into telling him anything.

"Caroline was in an accident last night, with Tyler Lockwood and Matt Donovan," Liz told him, tears in her eyes. "She's out of surgery, but they don't know if she'll wake up."

"Oh my God." He tried to figure out how all of this was connected to the invention, because he was sure that it somehow was, but couldn't come up with anything.

"And Mayor Lockwood is dead," Liz continued. "They thought he was a vampire and put him in the basement with the others."

Damon's eyes widened at that. "The Mayor was a vampire?"

"No, no, of course not. It was a mistake, they said he dropped like the others when John's device went off, but he couldn't have been a vampire …" She shook her head. "I've known him my whole life and now Carol Lockwood is going to want answers, and all I can think about is Caroline …" She trailed off, holding back a sob, and Damon pulled her into an embrace.

"It's OK," he told her soothingly. "You worry about your daughter, I'll take care of everything else."

* * *

Elena looked up when the doors to the ICU opened, hoping it would be one of Caroline's doctors coming to tell them she was awake or at least give them an update. Instead, it was Damon.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked when he walked over to where she and Bonnie were sitting. In the hurry to get to the hospital she hadn't thought to call him. And what had he been doing in the ICU?

"I didn't," he replied, sitting down in the chair next to her. "Liz called me."

"How is she?" Elena wondered. "This must be so hard on her."

"Yeah." Damon nodded. "What happened?"

"From what we can tell, Tyler was somehow affected by the invention last night," she told him, lowering her voice and checking to make sure nobody in the waiting room was listening to their conversation. "But we can't figure out why."

"That makes sense," Damon mused out loud.

"How?" Bonnie questioned. "How does that make sense? Tyler's not a vampire."

"No, but he is _something_," Damon replied. "Mayor Lockwood was killed along with the tomb vampires last night."

"What?" Elena exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down so as not to alert the other people in the waiting room. "How can that be?"

"I have no idea," Damon admitted. "But we're gonna get to the bottom of this."

"Had Sheriff Forbes heard anything more about Caroline?" Bonnie asked. "They haven't been out here to tell us anything in forever."

"All I know is that she's out of surgery but they don't know if she'll wake up," Damon passed on what Liz had told him.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Elena gave Bonnie a pointed look, but the witch shook her head.

"I'm not anywhere near that good," she said regretfully. "I don't want to try anything, I could end up hurting her or even worse."

"There is one thing …" Damon started.

Elena turned to him. "What?" she pushed.

"Well, vampire blood _is_ healing," he told them, letting them draw their own conclusions.

"No, we can't risk that," Elena objected immediately, but Bonnie nodded.

"Do it," she said. "I mean, as long as she doesn't die before the blood is out of her system, she won't turn unto a vampire, right?"

"No, it'll just speed up the healing process," Damon confirmed. "And she's perfectly safe here." The last part was directed at Elena, who was shaking her head.

"It's too risky," she tried to argue. "What if something happens?"

"We have to do _something_, Elena," Bonnie insisted. "It's Caroline, we can't just let her … die."

Elena seemed to be torn for a moment, but then she nodded. "OK, do it."

"OK." Damon got up. "Wait here."

He went back through the doors to the ICU, quietly making his way to Caroline's room. Liz was at the end of the corridor with her back to him, talking on her cell phone, so he quickly slipped into the room.

Getting right down to business, he bit his own wrist, opened Caroline's mouth and let the blood drip into it. The wound sealed itself up within a few seconds, but the blood he had managed to get into her would be enough. He saw Caroline swallow automatically and turned to leave.

"What are you doing in here?" a doctor who had entered the room without him noticing asked. "Nobody's allowed in here. And what were you doing to her?"

Damon quickly crossed the room and grabbed the doctor by the shoulders. "I was never here," he instructed, staring into the man's eyes, watching as they went blank.

"You were never here," he repeated in the monotone compelled people always used.

"Good boy." Damon patted the man on the shoulder before leaving the room. Liz was still on the phone and he could slip back into the waiting room without her ever knowing he had been there.

* * *

Bonnie sat tapping her foot impatiently against the floor while they waited for Damon to get back.

"If this doesn't work …" she muttered under her breath.

"It will," Elena assured her without really being sure herself. The only thing she knew about vampire blood was that if you died with enough in your system, you turned into a vampire. Stefan hadn't exactly been overly chatty about the subject.

Stefan. She realized that she hadn't even thought about him in all the commotion since last night, and suddenly felt extremely guilty. Shouldn't she be worrying about how he was doing? If he and the friend he was staying with, Henry, had gotten to that cabin in Canada yet? But, no, Damon had said that it would take them a week to get there at least. Which meant that, even if they didn't stay long, Stefan wouldn't be back for another three weeks or so.

That idea didn't bother her nearly as much as she thought it should. She was a horrible girlfriend … if that was even what she was to him anymore. He hadn't bothered trying to get in touch with her in three weeks, and, even if she understood that he had to focus on getting better, shouldn't she be able to at least expect a text? Was that too much to ask?

She was relieved when Damon came back into the waiting room, distracting her from her futile train of thought. She wasn't going to get anywhere, anyway, and obsessing was only going to make her feel worse.

"Did it work?" Bonnie asked as soon as she spotted him.

"I didn't stick around to see, a doctor came into the room," he replied. "But she should wake up soon; it won't be long before it takes effect."

"Good." Bonnie let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you gonna stay here?" Damon directed the question at Elena and she nodded.

"I want to see Caroline when she wakes up," she told him.

"OK. I need to get going; I have to take care of the mess that John and his little friends left behind last night." A frown appeared on his face at the idea. Trying to explain to Carol Lockwood and the rest of the Council how the Mayor had ended up with the vampires in the basement that had then been torched was _not_ something he was looking forward to.

"I'll talk to you later," Elena said, and he squeezed her shoulder.

"Call me if you need me," he told her, and she nodded.

Bonnie watched him as he walked away, wondering about the last comment. She already knew that he had a thing for Elena; that much was obvious. But she hadn't even considered the idea that Elena might reciprocate those feelings … now she wasn't so sure.

* * *

When they were finally allowed to see Caroline, she was sitting up in the bed, eating jell-o and looking better than anyone who had been involved in a car accident only last night should.

Elena let out a relieved breath at the sight. She hadn't doubted that Damon knew what he was doing, but she had still needed to see it for herself.

"Hey guys!" Caroline greeted them, putting the jell-o down.

"How are you feeling?" Bonnie asked.

"Pretty good," Caroline replied. "But, of course, the doctors don't believe me; they're saying I'm gonna have to stay here until tomorrow at least." She grimaced, probably at the idea of having to wear the hospital scrubs for another twenty-four hours. Bonnie and Elena exchanged a knowing look.

"Well, you _were_ in a car accident," Elena pointed out.

"I _know_, can you believe it?" Caroline shook her head. "I don't know _what_ came over Tyler, he just started screaming about some noise and then he lost control of the car."

"Yeah, that _is_ weird," Bonnie agreed. "But he's fine now, they already released him."

"Oh, good." Caroline looked over at the door to the hallway as if she had been expecting someone else to come into the room with them. "Do you know where Matt is?"

Elena realized that Caroline was disappointed he wasn't there. "He's been here all night, but the police wanted to talk to him a little while ago. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Caroline seemed pleased to hear that Matt had stayed in the hospital while she had been unconscious. "Do either of you have some make-up I can borrow? I can't look like _this_ when he sees me, can I?" She tried to rearrange the hospital robe, but it didn't do much difference. They just weren't meant to look good in.

Both Elena and Bonnie had to laugh at that. Yes, Caroline was going to be just fine.

"Sorry, make-up wasn't very high on my agenda when I heard that you were in here," Elena admitted, and Bonnie shook her head in agreement.

"Sorry, me neither."

"Crap!" Caroline scanned the room. "I had some lipstick in my purse, do you have any idea where it is?"

Bonnie checked the bedside table where she found the bag and Caroline rummaged through it, applying some lipstick and scrutinizing herself in a little mirror. "Well, better than nothing," she concluded, fluffing her hair a little. "Oh no, I have bed hair!"

There was a knock on the door at that moment, and Matt peeked into the room. "Can I come in?"

Caroline's face lit up when she saw him and she gave Bonnie and Elena pointed looks.

"We were just leaving," Elena said, taking the hint. She squeezed Caroline's hand. "You feel better."

"Bye guys."

"Well, she's going to be just fine," Bonnie noted when they were walking down the corridor to the exit. "Thank God."

"Yeah, I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't made it," Elena said. "There's been too much death lately."

Vicki, Amber … she didn't want to think about it.

"Listen, Elena …" Bonnie started when they had reached Elena's car. "I'm not going to say this to his face, and I don't want him to _ever_ bring it up, but … tell Damon that we're even, OK? He might have saved Caroline's life, so as long as …"

"He doesn't kill innocent people, I know," Elena cut her off, giving her a hug. "And thank you. It means a lot to me that you would even try to put your differences aside."

Bonnie hugged her back. "I know."

Elena drove home, letting the relief that Caroline would be OK and the fact that the vendetta between Bonnie and Damon seemed to be over, at least for now, calm her nerves, which were really messed up after last night. But, hopefully, things would be a little less crazy from now on.

Jenna was in the kitchen when she got home.

"Hey, you disappeared so fast this morning, I didn't have a chance to talk to you," she greeted, holding out the tub of ice cream she was eating from.

Elena grabbed a spoon and sat down next to her aunt. "Yeah, sorry about that, I just found out that Caroline was in the hospital and wanted to get there as soon as possible," she explained, taking a spoonful of ice cream.

"I heard about that." Jenna gave her a concerned look. "How is she?"

"She's going to be fine," Elena replied. "They're keeping her until tomorrow at least, but she's already a lot better."

"That's a relief."

"I know."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, the clink when the spoons every now and then collided the only sound in the kitchen.

"Oh, by the way," Jenna said when the ice cream was finished. "It's not something you have to worry about, but your dad's office building burned to the ground last night."

It took Elena a moment to remember that she wasn't supposed to know anything about that. "What? How did that happen?"

"The wiring was old, they think that's what caused it," Jenna said, shrugging. "Nobody was hurt, and the insurance should cover it, but I thought you should know."

Nobody was hurt, right. It didn't sound like the Mayor's death had reached the public yet.

* * *

He had already known that hysterical women weren't his favorite thing, but after half an hour with Carol Lockwood, Damon thought he might kill the woman just to get her to be quiet.

"But how could they mistake Richard for a vampire?" she asked in a shrill voice for the fiftieth time. "He was the Mayor, for God's sake, how could they make a mistake like that?"

He sighed and repeated the answer he had given her the other forty-nine times she had asked that exact question. "We don't know, Carol, but my best guess is that there must have been something wrong with the invention." He patted her back in what he hoped was a soothing motion. "I understand that you're in a state of shock right now, but we have to think about the town. We're gonna need an official story about what happened."

"That incompetent small town sheriff got my husband killed, that's what happened!" she exclaimed. "And I want her to pay."

"Liz isn't responsible for what happened, Carol, you know that," he tried to reason, glancing at his watch. Carol's sister had said that she would be there in twenty minutes, but that was half an hour ago. If she didn't get there soon, the Mayor's death wouldn't be the only thing he had to cover up …

"God, I have to start planning the funeral," Carol said, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. "What am I supposed to do?"

Tears started running down her cheeks and he awkwardly tried to comfort her, relieved when the doorbell finally rang. He left Carol Lockwood in her sister's care and went back to the boarding house, in desperate need of a drink.

When he had downed a glass of bourbon in one sweep, he called Elena.

"_Hello?"_

"How is Miss Mystic Falls doing?" he asked. "The blood kick in yet?"

"_Hello to you too,"_ she said dryly. _"And yes, she was sitting up and being her usual self when Bonnie and I left earlier."_

"In other words annoying."

"You're_ the one who dated her,"_ Elena pointed out.

He wanted to say that 'dated' was a bit of an overstatement, but didn't want to draw attention to what he had _actually_ been doing with Caroline, so he let it go. "Yeah, well, I'm older and wiser now."

"_I don't know about the 'wiser' part …"_ He could tell that she was teasing him. _"How did it go with the Council and Carol Lockwood?"_

"Let's just say crying women are _not_ my thing," he told her.

"_Really? I had _no_ idea."_

"Hey, I was pretty good about letting _you _cry on my shoulder, literally, I might add," he reminded her. "That shirt will never be the same."

She ignored his jibe about ruining his shirt. _"And you weren't at all uncomfortable, of course."_

The funny thing was, he actually hadn't been. He had been too busy enjoying having her that close …

"Any new catastrophes arise while I was handling the merry band of slayers?" he asked, wanting to change the subject. His mention of that night hadn't seemed to bother her, but no need to push it.

"_Don't say stuff like that,"_ she chastised lightly. _"You're really asking for trouble, you know."_

"Newsflash, princess; we don't need to _ask_ for trouble, it seems to find us _all_ on its own."

Elena sighed. _"I know. So what's the official story about the Mayor's death?"_ she wondered. _"I'm guessing you're not going with 'we thought he was a vampire so we burned him in the basement of Grayson Gilbert's office building with the rest of them'?"_

"Nah, we decided to go another way," he deadpanned. "Not sure which one yet; Carol wasn't being very cooperative on that particular subject. She kept going on about 'how could they think he was a vampire' and 'the sheriff is going to pay for getting my husband killed', that sort of thing."

"_Poor Carol,"_ Elena mumbled. _"It must be so hard on her."_

"Yeah, I'm sure it is." He wasn't really all that sympathetic; the Mayor had been involved in the whole 'kill the vampires' thing and as far as Damon was concerned, the man had gotten what he deserved. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have an idea about what we might tell the good people of Mystic Falls? Liz is still at the hospital, and I would rather not bother her, but I could really use someone else's insight."

"_Nope, sorry, I'm fresh out of ideas on how to cover up someone's death,"_ she replied, trying a little too hard to sound like the subject didn't bother her. _"But you might want to figure something out soon; you can't keep a secret very long in a town this size."_

"Right … because the whole town's _completely_ fine with having two vampires living among them."

"_OK, I see your point,"_ she admitted. _"But this _is_ the Mayor we're talking about; he's kind of a public person and people are gonna start wondering where he is if you don't come up with something soon."_

"I know," he agreed, frowning. "I'm gonna see if I can get a hold of Liz after all; we need to take care of this as soon as possible."

"_Sounds good. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go with Jenna and inspect the site of the fire caused by 'old wiring'. The insurance agent agreed to meet us, and I just want to get it over with."_

He thought he could hear a hint of sadness in her voice. "I'm sorry about your dad's office," he said. "It must be hard, losing something that I'm guessing was important to him so soon after your parents died."

"_It is."_ She paused. _"But it's just a building, you know. And I've been holding onto it for too long, didn't want anyone to move into his old office. Maybe now it'll be easier to let it go."_

"Maybe." He wanted to tell her that he would be there in a minute, that he would go with her. But he had to think about the bigger picture, so he couldn't. "Well, I'll let you go. But I'm here if you …"

"_I know,"_ she interrupted him, and he thought he could hear a smile in her tone of voice. _"I'll call you later."_

With that, she hung up, and he punched in another number. Duty called.

* * *

Elena stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing her outfit.

"The dress is nice, but is it appropriate for the Mayor's funeral?" she asked herself out loud, turning this way and that. She almost jumped out of her skin when Damon's voice came from the doorway.

"If 'appropriate' is what you're going for, I'd suggest something that covers a _little_ more than that."

"You'd think I would've gotten used to you sneaking up on me like that by now," she said, turning to find him leaning against the doorframe. "But you still scare the crap out of me. Can't you make a sound when you walk or something?"

"I'll try to remember to stomp coming up the stairs next time," he replied dryly.

"Good. And what do you mean 'something that covers more'?" She turned back to her reflection, tugging on the skirt. It came to just below her knee, that should be OK, right? Not too short for a funeral?

"Don't worry about it," he told her with a teasing smile. "You wouldn't look 'appropriate' no matter what you put on."

"OK, I'm going to take that as a compliment … I think." She looked at him, trying to figure out what he was really saying.

"You should, it was definitely a compliment," he said, passing her to sit down on her bed. His arm brushed hers as he walked past her, and she felt a tingle run down her spine. Shaking her head, she turned back to her reflection and put her earrings on.

"You look nice," she told him, noticing the suit he was wearing.

"I know." The smirk on his face, along with the comment about 'covering up' told her he was in one of _those_ moods. Great. Though it could make for an interesting funeral …

"And you actually came in through the door this time, that's progress," she noted. He'd had a tendency to slip in through her window lately, saying that he wanted to avoid Jenna, who he didn't think liked him very much. Unfortunately, Elena was inclined to agree.

"Well, I figured even Aunt Pain-In-The-Ass can't have anything to complain about if I tag along to the funeral." He shrugged. "I'm trying to avoid another conversation with Liz or Carol Lockwood so I need you to hang around; they won't be able to talk with you there, since you have absolutely _no_ idea about all the things that go on behind the scenes in Mystic Falls."

"OK, one, don't call Jenna that," Elena complained. "Two, they're just upset about the Mayor's death and hoping you can help them figure out what happened, and three, it's nice to know that you think all I'm good for is to help you out of uncomfortable conversations."

"Oh, come on, you know that's not _all_ I think you're good for," he objected. "But, since you're not interested in more … physical activities, I'll have to take what I can get."

Not interested … right, she wasn't. She felt her cheeks blush and quickly turned away from him again, but of course, he had already seen it. Not to mention the fact that he could actually hear her heart rate pick up. He smiled and congratulated himself on getting her worked up; it had been his goal.

* * *

"Wow, the whole town really turned up," Jeremy noted when they entered the Lockwood mansion after the service at the church.

"Well, he _was_ the Mayor," Jenna pointed out. "Isn't that Anna over there?"

"Yeah, see you guys later." Jeremy disappeared into the crowd that was gathered in the large living room.

"And there's Alaric." Jenna spotted the teacher across the room and waved. She gave Elena a smile. "You and Jeremy can get home on your own, right?"

"Picking up a guy at a funeral, not very classy, Aunt Jenna," Elena teased.

"Technically, _he's_ already picked _me_ up, so it doesn't count," Jenna objected. "Don't wait up."

"I didn't know these things could be such social events," Damon noted.

"Yeah, funeral's are right up there with singles bars and speed dating when it comes to meeting that special someone," Elena replied dryly.

"Now, weddings, I get," Damon continued, completely ignoring Elena's sarcastic remark. "I mean, all those desperate, single women, watching their ugly sister-slash-friend-slash-cousin getting married. _Anyone_ with the least bit of social skills and a face that doesn't scare children can get lucky at a wedding."

"Can we please change the subject?" Elena asked in a hushed tone, seeing Carol Lockwood making her way over to them. "Grieving widow at two o'clock."

Damon immediately went into his charm-mode. "Carol, how are you?" he greeted her with an appropriately somber look on his face, squeezing her hands. "It was a beautiful service."

"Thank you. Hello, Elena."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Lockwood," Elena offered the standard phrase. She remembered how useless she had found it when people had said it to her at her parents' funeral. But what else were you supposed to say?

"Thank you, dear." Carol gave her a tight smile. "It's nice to know that the town cares, even if Richard's own family doesn't."

Damon frowned "His family isn't here?"

"Well, his parents are dead," Carol told them. "But, of course, my good-for-nothing, bum-his-way-through-life brother-in-law couldn't even be bothered to show up for his own brother's funeral."

"I'm sorry, Carol. But we're all here for you," Damon said.

"I know, thank you." She smiled at him, then sighed. "I'm going to have to go mingle."

"That's interesting," Damon mused out loud when she had disappeared.

Elena frowned. "What is?"

"The brother not coming back for the funeral," Damon replied.

Elena didn't see what was so interesting about that. "And why is that interesting?"

He sighed impatiently. "Come on, Elena. Tyler was affected by the vampire device and, obviously, so was his father. It's only reasonable to think that it's something that runs in the Lockwood family. Hence, the brother would also have it." He frowned. "Whatever 'it' is."

"OK, I get what you're saying." Elena nodded. "But can we just not talk about that right now? I think we've had enough to worry about lately. I just want to … pretend that this is a funeral like any other without any supernatural influences, at least for a little while, can I do that?"

"Fine," Damon agreed grudgingly. "But it won't be much fun."

"I'll settle for boring, OK? In fact, I would be _thrilled_ if my life could be a little boring for a while."

"Then boring it is."

* * *

**AN: So, no Katherine, no Caroline turning into a vampire and no Mason. Let me know what you thought about the chapter … **


	10. Chapter nine

**AN: OK, next chapter for you guys. Getting to know Damon a little better. I've tried to avoid going against what we have learned about him and Stefan on the show, but if there's something I've missed, I'm sorry and I hope you'll be able to overlook it and call it creative freedom! As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and a big hug to sunshine2006578, my amazing beta!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

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**Chapter nine**

The next few days were actually kind of boring, at least in Damon's opinion. Nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever happened. Until Wednesday, when Elena didn't show up at The Grill after school like she always did. Not overly worried, since he was pretty sure Isobel had left town and Katherine had never been involved with the whole invention-thing to begin with, he called her.

"_Hello?"_ her slightly stressed voice came over the line after a moment.

"Where are you?" he asked, assured that nothing had happened.

"_At home, why?"_

He heard her flip through what sounded like a book in the background. "I thought we were meeting at The Grill."

"_Did we have plans? I'm sorry."_

"Well, no, we didn't have plans exactly, but it's what we've done every day for weeks."

"_Oh, well, I'm sorry, but I only realized today that finals start next week, and because of all the drama lately, I'm way behind on studying."_ At the end of the sentence, her voice had taken on an almost hysterical quality.

"Finals? I hadn't even thought about that."

He heard her sigh over the phone. _"Neither had I, that's the whole problem."_

"And I'm guessing you would consider it cheating to compel your teachers into giving you an A in every subject?"

"_That would be correct."_

"OK then. You want some help?" he offered, shaking his head. The lengths he would go to …

She was silent for almost thirty seconds. _"You want to help me study for my finals?" _she then asked in an amazed, and a little suspicious, voice.

"Is that so hard to believe?" he replied impatiently. "I have picked up a few things over the past century and a half, you know. I've been to every Ivy League college there is and some of the less prestigious schools, just to spice things up a little. I've taken classes in English, psychology, history, drama, I can go on and on for a very long time."

She laughed. _"The drama part I have no trouble believing."_

"If you're gonna make fun of me, I'll take back the offer," he threatened.

"_No, no, I'm sorry,"_ she hurried to apologize. _"And I would love some help, please."_

"OK. I'll be there in twenty minutes, and I'll even bring food."

"_Thank you."_

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

If someone had told Elena that Damon Salvatore was a good tutor, she probably would have laughed in their faces. But it turned out that he really was.

First of all, he seemed to know absolutely _everything_. Of course, when it came to history, at least, he had been around for a lot of the things she had to learn about. They got sidetracked for quite a while when he told her about what being a soldier in the Confederate Army during the Civil War had been like. As he talked about some of the battles she had read about in the history books her eyes widened and she found herself getting so caught up in the story she was almost disoriented when he stopped talking and she realized that they were still in her room in the year 2010 and not at some army camp in the nineteenth century.

"Wow," she mumbled, looking at an illustration in the history book, depicting the Battle of Gettysburg. "I _know_ that you were there, but it's just so hard to wrap my head around it."

"Yeah," he agreed, eyes lost in the distance.

"But you left the army before the war was over, right?" she asked. "I mean, it ended in 1865, and it was 1864 when …" She trailed off.

"Yeah, I deserted," he confirmed. "Father was _not_ happy about that …"

"Why?" she wanted to know.

Something flashed across his face and he looked down at the book, which was lying on the bed between them. "We should move on," he suggested, turning the page.

Elena though she understood, and didn't push it. He didn't want to talk about Katherine, and she didn't want to hear it.

Over the next few days, she learned more than she had ever thought possible and, on Sunday night, she realized that she was actually going to pass the exams.

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" Jenna asked her when they were having dinner. "Confident?"

"Actually, very much so," Elena replied. "For once, I feel like I'm really prepared."

"Damon's really been helping you, huh?" Jenna said in an incredulous ton.

"He has." Elena nodded.

"Wouldn't have pegged Damon as the scholarly type," Jeremy noted.

"Yeah, me neither," Jenna agreed.

Elena wanted to defend him. "There's more to him than you realize at first," she said.

Jenna nodded, but still watched Elena with a slightly suspicious expression. "I'm sure there is."

* * *

The next Friday, Damon was waiting for Elena outside the school. When she spotted him, a big smile spread on her face.

"I take it the last exam went well?" he assumed when she reached him.

"Piece of cake," she replied happily as they started walking towards the parking lot. "Thank you so much, I never could have done it without your help."

"And I plan on cashing in on that IOU at some point." The worried look on her face made him smile a little suggestively. "Don't worry, nothing too … scandalous."

She rolled her eyes. "I told Bonnie and Caroline I'd meet them at The Grill to celebrate," she said, unlocking her car. "Matt's coming too, you can tag along if you want."

He considered that for a moment. Bonnie had been a lot friendlier towards him lately, even coming over to Elena's house for a couple of hours to get some help with math before the finals, but hanging out with Caroline and Matt … "I think I'll pass," he decided. "As long as I can take you out for our own celebration after."

Her eyes narrowed. "What did you have in mind?" she asked suspiciously.

"That's a surprise," he told her. The truth was, he hadn't planned anything. But an idea was starting to form in his mind.

"I can't even get a hint?" she tried.

"Nope, you're going in blind."

"But you'd tell me if I needed to dress up or anything, right?"

"Relax, we're not going to the Ritz," he assured her. "Just wear what you normally wear. Oh, and don't have dessert."

She raised her eyebrows at that, but didn't ask. "OK, great. Pick me up at The Grill at seven thirty?"

"I'll be there."

* * *

"Hey, how did the last exams go?" Jenna asked a little later in the afternoon, coming into Elena's room when she was getting ready.

"Fine," Elena replied, applying some mascara. "I'm sure I'll get an A in history, at least."

"Since when have you been so interested in history?" Jenna wondered. "I've always gotten the impression that you didn't really like it."

"I had a good tutor," Elena told her with a smile. It was a lot more interesting to learn about history from someone who had firsthand experience, but she couldn't tell Jenna that, of course.

"Right. So you're going out to celebrate with Bonnie and Caroline?"

"And Matt." Elena made a split decision not to mention the fact that she would be meeting Damon later. "We're going to The Grill and then we'll probably hang out at Bonnie's place, watch a movie or something."

"You want to stay there tonight, not have to worry about driving home late?" Jenna offered.

Elena shook off the impulse to say yes. If Jenna didn't expect her home until tomorrow morning … but no.

"No, that's fine. But I might get home late, so don't wait up."

"Don't worry, I sleep fine when you're not home. I trust you," Jenna said. "Jeremy, on the other hand …"

Elena felt a twinge of guilt. She was lying to Jenna, after all. Maybe she should just tell her the truth … but, for some reason, she didn't. "But he's been doing a lot better lately," she said instead. "He's not moping around as much anymore. I think Anna's been a positive influence."

"True," Jenna agreed. "He hasn't been ditching school, hasn't been smoking pot – at least as far as I know – and he actually studied for the finals."

There was a honk outside and Elena quickly grabbed her purse. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have fun!"

Bonnie had offered to pick Elena up, and since she didn't want to leave her car at The Grill or have to worry about getting it later, she had accepted.

Matt and Caroline were already there when they got to the restaurant.

"How amazing is it to not have to worry about school for three months?" Caroline exclaimed when they sat down opposite her and Matt in the booth. "No more exams, no more homework, no more teachers bugging you to _listen_ and _pay attention_ and _take notes_."

"Tell us how you really feel, Care," Matt said with a smile. "Don't hold back on our account."

"Oh, please, like you're not all thinking the same thing," Caroline objected.

"I agree with Caroline at least," Bonnie piped in, and Elena nodded.

"Me too," she agreed. "School's out for summer."

"But, unfortunately, not forever," Matt filled in.

"No, don't. No talking about how we still have a year left of high school, and then four years of college, bla bla bla," Caroline complained. "Tonight is about everything _but_ school. In fact, if anyone even mentions anything vaguely relating to school, they'll be paying for everyone else's dinner."

She didn't have to worry; they had plenty to talk about without getting into school-related topics. Elena was surprised when she looked at her watch and realized it was almost seven thirty. It felt like they had just gotten there. She signaled a waitress that they wanted the check.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Caroline asked disappointedly. "I thought we were having an all nighter, celebrating."

"I'm sorry, but Damon wanted to take me out to celebrate too, he's picking me up in a couple of minutes," Elena explained. "I'm sure you guys can come, if you want."

"No, that's OK," Bonnie replied quickly.

"Yeah, we're good here," Matt agreed.

"I want to go," Caroline objected, ignoring Bonnie's pointed look.

Elena was torn. She had just offered to be nice, thinking they would say no, and was pretty sure Damon wouldn't be thrilled about Caroline tagging along. On the other hand, it wasn't like it was a _date_ or anything … right?

"No you don't," Bonnie told Caroline, apparently getting through.

"Oh, I get it." Caroline smiled. "Well, have _fun_."

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked as the waitress put their check down on the table.

"I don't know," Elena admitted, taking a few bills from her wallet and putting them down on top of the check. "Something about dessert, but that's all I know."

"And would that be 'dessert' in the food sense or …" Caroline started.

"Care!" Matt interrupted her.

"What?" She gave him an innocent look. "I was only saying …"

"Yeah, I got it, thanks," Elena hurried to say, not wanting Caroline to finish the sentence. "Bye guys!"

She quickly left the restaurant, but couldn't help but overhear Caroline yell, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" after her.

Damon was leaning against his car outside The Grill, and when he spotted her, he opened the door to the passenger side.

"Aren't we all gentlemanly tonight," she noted, sliding into the seat.

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it," he replied with a smirk before closing the door and walking around the car.

"So, where are we going?" she asked when he had started the engine and pulled out of the lot.

"Isn't the whole point of a surprise that I don't actually _tell _you what it is?" he retorted, getting on the highway.

"So you're not gonna tell me until we get there?"

"And she got it right on the first try."

Elena rolled her eyes but knew there was no point in pushing. He wasn't going to give anything away if he didn't want to.

"You're going to have to remind me," he said after a moment. "It's been a while. Is there actually anything Caroline _wouldn't_ do?"

Elena felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "You heard that?"

He laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on taking advantage of you." He glanced at her with a suggestive smile. "Unless you want me to, of course."

Elena swallowed hard. "Nope." If only her voice had been a little steadier …

"Too bad," he mumbled, focusing on the road again.

She started worrying that it was going to be a very uncomfortable drive when he spoke again.

"So, plans for the summer?"

Relieved to change the subject, she shook her head. "Absolutely nothing."

"That's not much fun," he pointed out.

"No, sorry, I do have plans," she corrected herself. "I plan on not worrying about anything like vengeful tomb vampires, mysterious inventions or biological mothers returned from the dead. How's that for summer plans?"

He shook his head disappointedly. "No sense of adventure whatsoever."

"I've had enough adventure to last me a very long time," she told him, a little sadness making its way into her voice at the end.

He glanced at her, but she was looking straight ahead, out the windshield. Sighing, he decided to forward the message he'd gotten from Henry earlier. It hadn't said much, but maybe it would make her feel better.

"He's fine," he said, a little more shortly than he had intended.

She turned to look at him. "What?"

"Stefan," he clarified, reluctant to mention his brother. "I heard from Henry today, don't know how he managed to get a cell signal out there in the middle of nowhere, but they're fine. You can read the message if you want." He started reaching for his cell phone, but she grabbed his hand.

"No, that's OK, I trust you," she assured him, letting go of his hand much too quickly in his opinion. "And that's not what I … I mean, I've been assuming everything's fine since you haven't said anything. It's just, with everything that's happened in the past month and a half … I could really use a normal, non-supernatural, boring summer."

He could understand that, to some extent, even if 'boring' wasn't something he himself would aim for. He was relieved that she wasn't thinking about Stefan … well, not _just_ Stefan, at least.

"How's this for normal?" he started. "Road trip, college visits. It _is_ your last summer before graduation, after all. Gotta see what's out there."

"I know," Elena agreed. "And I would love to go visit some schools, but Jenna has to work all summer. Bonnie and I might go to some of the nearby schools, though."

"OK, that's _not_ where I was going with that," he told her, and she glanced at him with raised eyebrows.

"Somehow, I don't think Jenna would be all that eager to let me go on a road trip with _you_," she pointed out.

"Oh, come on," he insisted. "I think my excellent behavior lately deserves some trust."

He _had _been on his best behavior around Jenna, Elena knew that, but still … and it wasn't just the fact that she was sure that Jenna was going to say no. She wasn't sure being alone with him all day, and, more importantly, all _night_ – she didn't think Damon's idea of a _road trip _meant only going to the schools close to Mystic Falls _–_ was a very good idea. There was enough sexual tension between them as it was, and she had no doubt he'd somehow take advantage of the situation. Though, if she was perfectly honest with herself … she wasn't sure she'd mind. Which was a big part of the problem. "I still don't think she'll be OK with it," she hurried to say to cut off her own mental musing.

"Just ask her, OK?"

"Fine, I will," she agreed, convinced Jenna would say no. Then a thought occurred to her. "But don't go meddling with her mind to get her to say yes, got it?"

He sighed. "Where is the trust?" She just looked at him. "She's wearing vervain anyway, right? I won't interfere, fine."

"Good."

They drove in silence for a while until Elena started getting bored.

"Are we there yet?" she asked impatiently.

"Are you five?" he countered, ignoring her question.

She glared at him and then pushed the button to turn the radio on. Maybe some music would make the time go by faster.

She skipped past a station with the latest pop music, sure Damon would find something to complain about, and settled for one playing classic rock songs. At the moment, _Satisfaction_ was playing, and she saw Damon nod along to the music next to her.

"You like The Stones?" she asked, realizing she didn't know anything about his taste in music.

"I actually saw them live, back before they'd had their big break," he told her. "The Marquee Club in London, 1962."

"Wow. That must have been an experience."

He nodded. "Yeah, it was."

"So, what other concerts have you been to?" she wondered. "Did you ever see Elvis?"

He laughed. "I did, actually. A couple of times; strictly the early years, though."

Elena turned a little in her seat so she was facing him, her expression similar to that of a child hearing an exciting fairy tale. "Tell me more."

"Where to start … OK, Woodstock, of course. Santana, Grateful Dead, Creedence, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker. And, not to be forgotten, Jimi Hendrix, _The Star-Spangled Banner_."

"You weren't a hippie, were you?" she asked in an amused voice, barely able to keep from laughing. "I can't imagine you as a hippie." The long hair, colorful clothes, so very un-Damony.

"Of course I wasn't a hippie," he told her, scoffing. "Those days were weird, though; you never knew when the person you were feeding from had been doing drugs. Let me tell you, I spent quite some time on highs that were _not_ meant for me."

As he spoke, he wondered if maybe he shouldn't have brought up the feeding part. But, like he had hoped, she laughed at the idea of getting an involuntary drug buzz.

"So you were a junkie, then?" she concluded with a smile.

"Only second hand, I never touch the stuff myself." He sifted through his memories, wondering which would interest her. "The Beatles, naturally. I have to admit, I didn't think they'd make it when their songs first started playing. Roxy Music, Curtis Mayfield, though I wouldn't expect _you_ to have heard of them …" He skipped a few of the lesser known bands and artists. "Led Zeppelin, Dylan, can't forget him, Queen, Pink Floyd, The Clash, Springsteen, U2, Billy Joel …"

She was looking at him in amazement, shaking her head. "It's like the Civil War all over again; I can't wrap my head around it."

"Well, you live for a hundred and fifty years, you get around," he pointed out.

"Were you in Europe for a long time in the sixties?" She said 'Europe' like it was some sort of exotic place; and, he realized, to her it was. He promised himself that, if she would let him, he'd take her there one day. Paris, Rome, Athens, London, Dublin, Barcelona … he wanted to show them all to her.

"About a decade," he told her. "I'd spent a century as a vampire in the States, needed a change of scenery."

"Where else have you been?"

"Everywhere," he told her with a smile.

She raised her eyebrows in a questioning expression. "_Every _single country in the entire world?" She didn't sound like she believed him.

"Sure. I've had a _lot_ of time on my hands, and I'm easily bored."

She laughed. "No need to tell _me_ that."

"Hey, who was the one asking if we were there yet, like an impatient child?" he objected.

"That's only because I don't know where we're going," she explained. "I can be very patient, but I don't like not knowing stuff like that."

"Well, you can stop worrying, because we're here." He pulled into a parking lot and turned the engine off.

She looked out the window, realizing they were by the ocean. She hadn't even noticed entering Virginia Beach, but now they were in the parking lot at the amusement park on the Boardwalk.

"We're going to the amusement park?"

"No, we're going over there." He pointed in the opposite direction.

"The beach?" she asked suspiciously. Not that she didn't like the beach; she loved it. But it was eight thirty in the evening and they had apparently just missed the sunset; the sky at the horizon was still a beautiful shade of pink, but the sun was no longer warming the air and it would probably get chilly out there soon. Not exactly the ideal time for sunbathing.

"Well, we can go down to the beach if you want," he replied. "But, first, we're getting ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

"Not just any ice cream; the best ice cream on the east coast," he corrected. "I promised you dessert, didn't I?"

He got out of the car and, shaking her head, she followed him.

"So where is this place that has the _best_ ice cream?" she asked as they started down the street.

"Just two blocks that way," he said. "But parking on the Boardwalk is always a bitch this time of year."

The place was, surprisingly, not very crowded, and it only took them a few minutes to get their ice creams.

"You're really going to eat all that?" Elena wondered, eyeing his five-scoop ice cream, when they left the shop and headed towards the beach. It was getting darker, but he, of course, wouldn't have any trouble seeing.

"Why not?" He licked some ice cream that had started running down the side of the cone off before winking at her. "You want a taste?"

Elena shook her head to get rid of the instant flash of … she didn't want to call it 'desire', but wasn't sure what else to label it, off. "I've got my own ice cream, thanks."

"Your loss."

The beach was pretty much deserted by now; a couple of hundred yards away, a group of high school kids had lit a bonfire and were apparently getting ready to celebrate that school was out for the summer as well, but, other than that, they were alone on the stretch of sand.

Damon continued about half-way down to the water and then gracefully sat down in the sand. Elena stayed on her feet. "What, no blanket?" she asked teasingly. "I thought you planned this."

"If you're worried about your jeans getting dirty, you can always sit in my lap," he offered with a smirk.

Elena scowled and, slightly more clumsily, sat down next to him. They ate in silence, and when they had finished their ice creams, Elena was the first to speak.

"This was a nice idea, thank you," she said. "I love the beach, but I haven't been since the summer before last and it's good to be back."

"You didn't go even once last summer?" he asked. "If you love it ..."

"Last summer was … I had a lot of other things on my mind," she replied, looking straight ahead at the darkening horizon.

He was silent for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't think about your parents," he then said quietly.

"That's OK," she told him. "It's been over a year now, and it's getting easier to think about them. I mean, I'll always miss them, but not like I did at first."

"It's never easy, losing people you love," he mused, and his tone of voice had her looking over at him.

She really didn't want to ask, afraid of the answer she would get, but she did it anyway. "Are you thinking about anyone in particular?"

He nodded slowly, as if lost in his own little world. "My mother," he then said.

"Oh." Elena hadn't expected that.

"I don't know if Stefan ever mentioned her," Damon continued. "He was still little when she died, I don't think he remembers her very well."

Elena pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them, fighting off the slight chill that was spreading. "But you do?"

"I was seven when she died," he replied. "I was always her favorite, Stefan was our father's, I don't know why. She had just taught me how to read a couple of months before she got sick. I remember when she couldn't get out of bed anymore, and I would spend the whole day in her room, reading to her. She loved books; didn't matter what kind, she loved them all. I went through most of father's library in the months before she died, and when she was gone, it was a way to keep something of her with me."

Elena could picture it; a little boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes, curled up on the windowsill in a room where the walls were lined with shelves filled with hundreds and hundreds of leather-bound books.

"Of course, Father didn't much approve of my reading." He snorted. "Not that he approved of _anything_ that I did. Joining the Confederates was probably the only thing I did right in his eyes, and even _that_ I managed to mess up, according to him."

"I can't imagine what that must have been like," Elena mumbled. Sure, she'd had her differences with her parents, but they had always supported her in whatever she wanted to do. To not have that …

"OK, subject change," Damon suggested, tone lighter. "This got very depressing."

Elena couldn't agree more. "Being at the beach got me thinking …" she started, a thought occurring to her. "Do vampires tan?"

He laughed out loud and she congratulated herself on distracting him. "What?"

"I mean, in myths and whatever, vampires are always pale, but that's because they can't go out in the sun," she elaborated. "But you have that ring, so do you get a tan when you're out in the sun?"

He gave her an amused look. "I haven't actually thought about it," he admitted. "But I would guess that I do. What you need to understand is that, even if the sun doesn't burn me when I'm wearing the ring, it's still not all that comfortable being in bright sunlight. I guess you could say it's a little similar to having a hangover. It hurts my eyes and feels a little weird on my skin."

"I didn't know that." Stefan had never said anything about it.

"It's not really a problem," Damon told her. "I mean, I've gotten used to it by now. And it's still a whole lot better than not being able to go out at all."

"I can imagine." She felt a shiver run through her body, and realized it had gotten chillier.

"Are you cold?" Damon asked in a concerned voice. "I'm sorry, I should have told you to bring a jacket or something."

"I'm fine," she assured him, but he was already pulling of his ever present leather jacket and hanging it over her shoulders. The material warmed her and when she breathed in, she caught a scent that couldn't be identified as anything other than _Damon_. She inhaled again, trying to figure out what kind of cologne he was wearing, but couldn't place it. Maybe it was just him.

"Better?" he asked after a moment, and she nodded. "Do you want to get going?"

She shook her head. "Can we sit here just a little longer?"

She could see the corner of his mouth turn up in a smile. "Sure."

* * *

**AN: So, what did you think of my take on Damon's character and past? I know he's been messing things up for Stefan since they were turned, but he must have done **_**some**_** other things in a century and a half, right? And I don't think there's been anything about Damon and Stefan's ages on the show (?) so I'm thinking there's maybe five years between them and Stefan was just two when their mother died, hence he wouldn't remember her. **

**It hasn't been brought up on the show that being in the sun is uncomfortable for vampires, as far as I know, but I think it's in the books, and since it worked with this part of my story, I thought I'd borrow it.  
**

**Oh, and the 'involuntary drug buzz' thing was inspired by a Buffy episode; Spike talking about Woodstock and saying how he spent hours watching his own hand move after feeding off a flower person.  
**

**OK, that's it. Let me know what you thought … **


	11. Chapter ten

**AN: Well, I got at least **_**one**_** review expressing an interest in the road trip idea, and here it is. I hope you like it, darkestdesire8! And a big thanks to everyone else who reviewed, of course, and my beta, sunshine2006578! 88 reviews on this story so far, you guys are amazing! Please, please, please help me get it past a hundred with this chapter! Just twelve little reviews, I know you can do it! **

**I just want to say, right away, that I have absolutely nothing against Taylor Swift, Katy Perry or country music, and I hope I won't make any enemies with my references in this chapter … Also, I'm a big fan of Lifehouse. Anyway, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

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**Chapter ten**

Jenna was still awake when Elena got home a little before midnight.

"Did you have a good time?" she asked, calling Elena's attention to where she was sitting on the living room couch.

"I thought I told you not to wait up," Elena said lightly, going into the living room.

"I just got home ten minutes ago myself, actually, and I wanted some tea before bed," Jenna defended herself, holding up the mug she had in her hands.

"Sure you did."

"So where did _Damon_ take you?" Jenna asked pointedly, and Elena guiltily looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," she apologized, though Jenna didn't exactly sound angry.

"Nah, I get it," her aunt replied. "Sneaking around with the bad boy behind the parent's – or in this case guardian's – back, isn't that part of being a teenager?"

"It's not like that," Elena tried to explain, but Jenna only smiled in a knowing way. "I just know that he's not your favorite person and I didn't …"

"… want me to tell you that you couldn't go," Jenna finished for her.

"Sort of, I guess," Elena admitted guiltily.

"OK, I'm going to say something that you probably never expected to hear from me, and that I honestly never thought I'd _ever_ say, but … Damon's grown on me." Jenna looked a little surprised that she had actually said it out loud. "I see how much he cares about you and what a good friend he's been to you since Stefan left last month and, especially after the way he helped you study for the finals, I don't think he's such a bad influence anymore."

Elena was amazed by the speech. "Really?" She couldn't help but sound a little suspicious; was this some kind of reverse psychology thing?

"Really," Jenna said, laughing. "So don't feel like you need to make up stories if you're hanging out with him; I'm cool with it."

Elena decided that she might as well try just how 'cool' Jenna was with her and Damon's friendship right away. "Then you wouldn't have a problem if I went on a short road trip to a few colleges with him next week?" she asked, fully expecting a 'no way'. But Jenna surprised her again.

"Do you want to go?" she turned the question around.

"Well … do I want to go visit some schools? Definitely," Elena started. "Do I want to go on a road trip with Damon … not completely sure about that part."

"Are you afraid that he'll try to take advantage of the situation?" Jenna wondered. "I mean, it won't be a luxury trip with five star hotel suites; you'd probably have to share a room at some dingy motel if you're planning on being gone for a couple of days."

"No, no, I know he would never try to get me to do something that I don't want to do," Elena replied quickly. She was sure of that. The thing she was worried about was that maybe, at some point, she wouldn't want to say no … She already had trouble with what she wanted, she didn't need to add to that. Or maybe she would forget the reason why she couldn't just let go and follow those impulses that, lately, had been growing stronger and stronger whenever she was close to him.

"Then I think you should go," Jenna said, bringing her back to the present. "I mean, I would love to take you to see different colleges myself, but you know that I have to work my butt of this summer. So if he's offered, which I'm assuming he has or you wouldn't be bringing it up, I think you should do it."

Elena nodded, ignoring that little voice inside her that kept insisting that this was a very bad idea. "OK, I will."

* * *

"OK, where are we going to start?" Elena asked the following day, a map in front of her. Damon was sitting opposite her, leaning over the table. "Do you want to do the schools close by first and then work our way out, or the other way around?"

He shrugged. "Whichever is fine by me. What schools are you interested in?"

"Well, the closest ones are Longwood and Hampden-Sydney," she replied, pointing at Farmville on the map. "Then I guess Liberty, University of Richmond, Southern Virginia."

"We're staying local then?" he concluded. "I thought the whole point of a road trip was to go to the schools that aren't in your back yard. You can get to all these places and back in a day."

"Well, what did you have in mind?" she asked impatiently.

"Duke, for starters," he said.

"Even if I could get into Duke, which I probably can't with my GPA, I wouldn't be able to afford it," she told him. Her parents had set up college funds for both her and Jeremy when they were little, but there definitely wasn't enough money in them for Duke. She had already accepted the fact that she would be going to a cheaper school in the state. Sure, she would love to go to a college like Duke, but she was also realistic.

"That's what scholarships are for," he pointed out.

"And how do you suggest I get a scholarship?" she asked.

"How about we make a deal?" he suggested. "I get your GPA up to a four-point-oh by the Christmas break, and you agree to apply to Duke."

She considered that for a moment. If she was going to get into a good school, she needed to raise her grades anyway, and she didn't exactly mind getting tutored by him … "Deal," she agreed. "But even if I get in, I won't be able to go unless I get a scholarship."

"Let's worry about that when we have to. Then, if we want to go a little further away, there's Georgetown." He circled Washington on the map along with Durham. "And Emory in Atlanta."

"This is starting to look like a _long_ road trip," she pointed out.

"And you were planning on being gone _how_ long?" he asked with a questioning look.

"A week, maybe," she replied and he scoffed.

"I don't think anything under two weeks qualifies as a real road trip," he retorted.

"I know Jenna agreed to let me go, but I don't think we should push our luck," Elena objected. "She could still change her mind."

"Nah, she likes me now," he replied with a smirk and Elena rolled her eyes. She had made the mistake of telling him about her conversation with Jenna last night; she should have known better. "OK, how about this?" She looked up at him when he continued. "We start out going south; Duke, Emory, Wake Forest and whatever other small town schools you want to stop at. A couple of days, a week if we don't want to rush. Then we go north the week after or next month, whatever you want; John Hopkins, Georgetown, University of Virginia in Charlottesville and, again, those backwater schools you seem so set on going to."

Elena contemplated that suggestion for a moment and then nodded. "OK."

* * *

They started out just before noon on Sunday, heading south. They had decided to go straight to Atlanta, which would take most of the day, and then visit the Emory campus on Monday. After Emory, there were a few schools Elena wanted to look at while they were in the area, and then they were slowly going to start making their way back north, stopping at several schools, including Wake Forest, on their way to Durham, where they would finish their trip off with Duke on Friday. Elena had lost count of all the schools Damon had put on the list; she hadn't even heard of more than half of them, but he insisted on covering all angles.

"What did you do, google 'colleges on the east coast' or something?" she had grumbled when she had seen his list.

"You should be grateful that I'm willing to help you with this," he had told her. "If you were left to fend for yourself, you'd end up applying to a few schools within an hour from here and you'd never know what was out there."

She hadn't even bothered giving him an answer.

"OK, road trip rules," was the first thing Damon said when they left Elena's house on Sunday. "One: the driver picks the music and the passenger can't complain."

Elena raised a questioning eyebrow at that. "You sure about that? I mean, I can take whatever music you throw at me, but can you survive hours and hours of Taylor Swift and Katy Perry?"

"I'm an _expert _when it comes to listening to girly music," he told her confidently. "Besides, _you_ don't even listen to Taylor Swift."

True. "My point is, if _you_ get to listen to whatever _you_ want when _you're_ driving, _I_ get to listen to whatever _I_ want when _I'm_ driving."

"Isn't that _exactly_ what I just said?"

"Just want to make sure you understand what you're getting yourself into."

He threw her a quick smirk. "I'll take my chances."

"Fine."

"And to get us started …" He fiddled with the radio, finally settling on a station playing 'the greatest hits from the sixties, seventies and eighties' according to the perky woman presenting the songs.

"You like that kind of music?" Elena asked curiously.

"I like all kinds of music," he replied.

"_All_ kinds of music?" She sounded like she didn't believe him. "Classical?"

"It's not something I have on the playlist on my iPod, but I can appreciate it," he told her. "When I'm in the right mood."

"Heavy metal?"

"Definitely; Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple … one of my favorites, actually."

OK, she should have been able to predict that. "Jazz?"

"Louis Armstrong, Pasadena, 1956."

She tried to think of something that he _wouldn't_ like. "Country?"

He sighed. "Fine, you got me."

She laughed. "I knew you couldn't possibly like _all_ music out there," she said.

"Are you going to find a station playing 'Best country hits of the twentieth century' and torture me when it's your turn to drive then?" he asked. "Because I'm fine driving all the way to Atlanta."

"No," she replied. "I don't actually like country all that much myself."

He smiled at the idea that they had that in common. "Rule number two: no asking if we're there yet."

Elena rolled her eyes. "It was _one_ time, and it was only because I had no idea where we were going, I told you that!"

He had to hold back a laugh at her annoyed tone of voice. "Still, you might want to keep it in mind."

"Fine, any more rules?" she asked impatiently.

"I'll let you know if I think of any."

* * *

Damon looked over at Elena's sleeping form in the passenger seat. She had started yawning after two hours on the road, and fallen asleep half an hour later.

That was over an hour ago now.

They needed gas, so he slowed down to pull into a gas station that was coming up. Stopping next to the only available gas pump, he turned the engine off.

She looked so peaceful, face relaxed in sleep. He didn't want to wake her up; like he had told her, he could keep driving all the way to Atlanta if it was necessary.

Not able to resist the urge to touch her, he reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She stirred a little and opened her eyes.

"I fell asleep," she mumbled drowsily. "Sorry, not being very good company." She sat up straighter in the seat and stretched her arms over her head.

"No big," he shrugged it off.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around the insignificant gas station.

"Between Concord and Charlotte," he told her, opening the door. "I'm gonna get gas, you want anything?" He looked over at the small store. "It's not a gourmet restaurant, but I'm sure they have something edible."

"Just a soda, thanks," she replied. "Maybe we can stop in Charlotte and have an early dinner?" She'd had lunch just before they left Mystic Falls, but that was hours ago and she could feel her stomach growling.

"Sure." He got out of the car.

"You want me to take over driving?" she called through the open door.

"That's OK, I can keep going a little longer." He started filling the tank up.

"I want to," she said, getting out of the car and coming around to the driver's side. "Besides, I think it's my turn to pick the music," she continued with a smile.

"Fine," he agreed. "I'll go get us a couple of sodas and pay for the gas."

"OK."

He walked towards the small store and she climbed into the driver's seat, adjusting it so that she could reach the pedals comfortably. After fiddling with the rearview mirror, she opened the glove compartment and sifted through the CDs in there. When Damon got into the passenger seat a few minutes later, she had popped _Smoke & Mirrors_ into the CD-player.

"Lifehouse fan, are we?" he asked, handing her a soda.

"Yeah, this new CD is great," she replied, starting the car and getting back on the road.

He nodded in agreement. Something else they had in common when it came to music.

"I would love to go to their concert in Raleigh in August, but it's already sold out," she continued in a disappointed tone.

He made a mental note to check if there was any way to get tickets.

"That's one of the bands I haven't yet seen live that I would like to see," he told her and she nodded.

By the time they stopped at a diner just south of Charlotte, they had made their way through the album.

* * *

The sun had set over an hour ago when the Atlanta skyline finally appeared on the horizon and Damon, who was driving again, took an exit when he spotted a motel with a sign indicating they had free rooms.

"It's not the Hilton, but since it's the middle of the summer and most hotels in town are probably booked, it's the best I can do," he said, turning the engine off and tossing the car keys to Elena. "You want to grab the bags and I'll go get us a room?"

Elena wasn't sure that was the greatest idea, but didn't have the chance to object before he was out of the car and on his way to the building where the reception was located. Grumbling, she got out as well and opened the trunk to get their bags out. She put them down on the ground and leaned against the car, waiting for Damon to get back. She didn't have to wait long before he reemerged from the building and walked back to her.

"I managed to get their best room," he said with a smirk, jingling the keys. "Not sure that's saying much when it comes to this place, but it could have been worse." He grabbed the bags and led the way to the door at the end, furthest from the reception.

"Did you _pay_ for the room?" Elena asked suspiciously, following him.

"What kind of person do you think I am, someone who'd take advantage of a poor motel owner and cheat him out of some much needed money?"

"That's exactly what I think," she replied, a smile taking the edge off her words.

He scowled at her over his shoulder for a brief moment, then he smiled again. "You would be correct, but this particular time, I honestly didn't. I knew you wouldn't like it."

She cocked her head to the side, frowning at him. "Really?"

"Give me _some_ credit!" he exclaimed, opening the door for her.

"Sorry, not used to the Damon who actually takes what I think into consideration," she said, walking past him and regarding the room. "And _really_?"

He passed her, dropping their bags on the _one_ bed in the room. Granted, it was a double, but they would still have to share. Which she had no doubt was something he had specifically asked for.

"I'm insulted; I always take what you think into consideration," he objected. "And what do you mean 'really'?"

She just looked between him and the bed, eyebrows raised.

"Oh, come on! We're both adults, aren't we?" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Of course, if you're worried you won't be able to control yourself, I can go see if they have a room with two singles …"

Elena felt a blush rise on her cheeks and quickly turned her back on him, opening the door to the bathroom. It was standard; shower, toilet, sink. Nothing flashy, but it seemed clean, at least.

"I asked the guy in the reception if there are any decent restaurants nearby," Damon said from behind her. "He recommended a pizza place a couple of blocks away. You hungry?"

She hadn't thought about it, but when he brought it up, Elena realized that she was starving. It had been hours since they had dinner, and they had only stopped for bathroom breaks since then.

"Yeah, I am," she told him, making sure she wasn't blushing anymore before turning back around to face him.

"Then let's go."

The pizza place turned out to be much nicer than Elena had expected, and while they ate they got to talking more about music and, after a while, they got into movies as well, so it was late when they finally got back to the room.

It was when Elena had changed into the t-shirt and shorts she was going to sleep in after taking a shower that she started to really worry about the sleeping arrangements. Yes, they had slept in the same room, and even the same bed, before, but this time, there was no Jenna down the hall and no Jeremy in the next room. She felt her heart rate pick up at the thought of being here, alone with him, all night …

A knock on the door made her jump. "You done in there soon?" Damon asked impatiently. "I wanna take a shower, wash off all the road dust."

"Stop thinking about it," Elena said quietly, looking at herself in the mirror, and then she opened the door.

"Finally." He breezed past her into the room and she carefully closed the door behind her; she didn't need a visual.

When he came back into the room, dressed only in a pair of boxers she tried very hard not to study too closely, she was already in bed, as close to the edge on her side that she could possibly get without falling onto the floor.

"I'm not going to bite," he said dryly, slipping into the bed on the other side.

"I'm not completely sure I believe that," she mumbled. "Aren't you hungry?"

He had eaten with her both earlier in the day, at the diner in Charlotte, and at the pizza place. But she was pretty sure that normal, human food didn't actually meet his … nutritional requirements.

"I've eaten, don't worry," he told her, turning off the lamp above the bed.

"You have? When?" she asked in the darkness. She hadn't seen him even talk to anyone other than waitresses and the clerk at the gas station all day.

"When you've been in the bathroom," he replied, as if they were discussing something completely normal. "I didn't think you'd particularly like to see."

He was right about that. "Thanks. I mean, I know you have to, you know … eat to survive, but I'd rather not think about the people you …"

"I haven't been feeding from _humans_," he interrupted, and she thought he sounded … indignant, maybe. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had fresh blood? I have blood bags in a cooler in the car."

That was actually news to her. Why hadn't he said anything?

"I didn't know you had stopped drinking …" How to put it?

"Straight from the tap?" he suggested, and she could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Yeah. I just … I don't know. It's really your fault, you're the one who's made me think about people like, well, people and not just food walking around."

She smiled to herself. "I'm glad."

"Just don't think I'm gonna move on to animals, because that's _never_ gonna happen."

She laughed. "I wouldn't expect it."

* * *

He'd been dreaming but, as he slowly came back to consciousness, he couldn't quite remember about what. It had been a nice dream, though, he was sure of that. A sense of … contentment still lingered.

He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Eight thirty. It had been after midnight when they came back to the motel and probably closer to one in the morning when Elena finally fell asleep; he had been able to tell from her breathing evening out. He could let her sleep a little longer.

In the night, she had moved from the far side of the bed where she had started out and was now only an inch or two away from him, both of them lying on their backs. He wanted to move closer, wrap an arm around her waist and bury his face in her hair, inhale that scent that was just _her_. But he was afraid he'd wake her up, and he wasn't all that interested in trying to explain _that_ to her.

As if she had heard him, Elena rolled over onto her side, throwing one arm across his chest and one leg over his. Her body was pressed against his side, her lips close to his ear, and he could feel her hot breath against his skin.

Christ.

Daring to move a little, he put his arm on top of hers on his chest, and heard her let out a sigh of contentment. "Damon …" she mumbled, and for a moment, he thought she had woken up. But her breathing told him she was still asleep, and he smiled to himself. Was she dreaming about him?

He turned his head so he could look at her sleeping features, their faces barely an inch apart. With his increased vision, he could count each dark eye lash against her cheeks even in the semi-dark room. Her hair was ruffled from the pillow, her lips slightly parted.

He wanted to kiss her so badly he almost had to restrain himself physically to keep from doing it.

He was sure there was something there, an attraction between them that even _she_ couldn't deny. He could hear the way her heart started beating faster when he was close to her, something she couldn't even know herself, even if she must be aware of it on some level. He wouldn't even have to compel her; if he woke her up with a kiss, sliding his hand along her thigh and up underneath her shirt … he was pretty sure where things would end up.

So why didn't he?

Because he wanted more than just sex, he realized. Sex with Elena just wouldn't be enough. He wanted _her_, all of her. Always.

Sure, she probably wouldn't reject him, but would she regret it later? Would she feel guilty, like she had betrayed Stefan, and pull away from him? Or would she blame him, think that he had taken advantage of her? He didn't want to risk that. With some surprise, he realized that he would rather have her as a friend than not be in her life at all.

And that was _definitely_ not like him.

"What have you done to me?" he muttered quietly, studying the sleeping girl next to him. When had he gone from wanting her to being in love with her? He wasn't sure. But there was nothing he could do about it; she was still hung up on Stefan, and even if she got over his brother, he wasn't about to be her rebound-guy. So he was just going to have to repress those feelings. He'd spent almost a century and a half pining after Katherine, he could handle a little unrequited love.

Elena's brow furrowed in sleep and she moved a little, her body pressing against his. He took a deep breath, trying to control the way his body reacted to her proximity, but failed.

Carefully, he extricated himself from her hold and pushed the covers aside. He heard her move behind him and realized that she was awake.

"Morning," she mumbled and yawned. "What time is it?"

"Just a little after eight thirty," he replied. "We don't have to get up yet."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Need a shower," he told her shortly, getting up. He was grateful that the bathroom door was on his side of the bed and quickly disappeared through it.

Elena frowned in the bed. "Didn't he just shower last night?" she mumbled to herself, not sure what to make of it. Yawning again, she pulled the covers up to her chin and decided she could stay in bed for a little while longer.

* * *

The next few days were filled with different schools, motel rooms, pizza places, diners and gas stations. When they finally got to Durham, Elena was exhausted, both mentally and physically, from spending so much time during the past five days in a car.

"I think we're going to have to wait at least a couple of weeks before we go on the trip to the schools up in Maryland and District of Columbia," she said as they pulled into a parking lot by a motel close to the highway just outside the city. "I'm not going to be spending any significant amount of time in a car in the immediate future if I have any say about it, which I do."

"Weakling," he teased her.

"Shut up."

"Aren't we testy today? Is it your time of the month?"

She elbowed him in the ribs. "I'm just sick of being in this car day in and day out."

"I'm hurt. And here I thought we were having fun." He tried to sound nonchalant, but Elena could hear that he was actually a little disappointed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "The bed at that last place was all lumpy, so my back's killing me, and I'm getting a headache. I _am_ having a good time, and I'm so glad you suggested this."

He glanced over at her and apparently decided to believe her, because he didn't say anything.

As had become their habit in the past couple of days, Elena got the bags out of the car while Damon went to the reception to get them a room. He always got one with a double bed, claiming that there were no free rooms with two singles, but she didn't believe him.

On the other hand, she didn't question him, and she didn't insist on getting their room herself. And, if she was going to be perfectly honest with herself – which she hadn't been much lately, especially not when it came to Damon – she was not looking forward to getting home tomorrow. Even though she knew she would see him every day, she would miss this. Being on the road with him, just the two of them, away from everything. Their own little slice of the world, where nothing and no one else interfered.

* * *

**AN: So, a little sexual tension between our favorite couple in this chapter, what did you think? Anybody interested in Elena's point of view on the sleeping arrangements? Let me know …**


	12. Chapter eleven

**AN: Wow, fifteen reviews on the last chapter, making the total 103 – you guys rock! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who reads and everyone who reviews – you are the reasons writing this fic is so much fun. And lots of snowy hugs from Sweden to my beta, sunshine2006578. And LyssaMalfoy – I am so jealous you got to see Lifehouse live! Like I said, I absolutely love them, and they didn't even come here on their world tour, which really sucks! OK, anyway, on with the story. We still have a little road trip left – enough for some more sexual tension – I hope nobody minds. **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter eleven **

She didn't want to wake up. She felt safe, warm and happy in her dream, enveloped in strong arms. But her mind insisted on pulling her away from it, into reality.

Elena opened her eyes, finding another motel room, very similar to the ones they had stayed in during the week, with the standard prints on the walls, the neutral color scheme. _Durham_, her mind provided helpfully. She couldn't see the alarm clock so she had no idea what time it was, but it was still dark outside, which meant it had to be early still. She wasn't sure what had woken her up.

She tried to move, but realized that the feeling of arms around her hadn't been just the dream. Damon was lying behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his body pressed against hers. As she shifted, his hold on her tightened a little, keeping her in place. He mumbled something unintelligible in sleep and she relaxed in his embrace.

Like every night, they had gone to sleep with a space between them on the bed, even if it wasn't as wide last night as it had been that first in Atlanta. During the week, she had gradually moved from her spot on the very edge to a more normal sleeping position on her side of the bed, even if she had still been very careful to avoid any physical contact.

At some point during the night, they must have both moved, because now they were curled up in the middle of the bed. She couldn't be sure if this had happened before; every morning so far, he had been halfway out of the bed when she woke up.

She was pretty sure that she couldn't get out of his embrace if she wanted to, but also knew that she didn't. She would be perfectly happy to stay here, just like this, the whole day.

The realization made her mind reel.

Even if she had tried to ignore it, she'd had to admit to herself that there was a connection between them, an attraction. But this went beyond that …

_What about Stefan?_ a little voice reminded her and an enormous amount of guilt immediately washed over her. He'd been gone a little over a month now, and she still hadn't heard anything from him apart from what Damon had told her.

She couldn't do this to him. She didn't know exactly how she felt about him anymore, not having seen him or talked to him in a month taking its toll on her, but she knew that he deserved better than this.

She knew that, and still … no. She wouldn't think about it. Because thinking about it would be too hard. The best thing to do would be to put some distance between herself and Damon; she didn't have to see him every day. But even the thought of doing that, of pulling away from him, was too much. She wouldn't be able to handle it.

So she would pretend like nothing had happened. Like she hadn't realized that she was in love with him. Because she couldn't be. And it wasn't like _he_ was in love with _her_, anyway.

And things would be just like before.

That decision eased a little of the guilt, and she relaxed again. So what if she had feelings for Damon? She wasn't going to act on them, so it didn't matter.

But she could still enjoy this stolen moment of being close to him.

She listened to his even breathing, letting the rhythm calm her. She knew he breathed during the day, but that was mostly to keep up appearances; people might notice that something was off if he didn't. The fact that he breathed, maybe automatically, when he was asleep somehow made him more human in her eyes. Stefan didn't breathe when he slept, and she remembered how disturbing she had found it in the beginning, before she got used to it.

No, she wasn't going to think about Stefan.

She forced her mind to go blank, focusing only on the rise and fall of Damon's chest that she could feel against her back and his breathing.

Within a couple of minutes, the sound had lulled her back to sleep.

* * *

Damon glanced over at Elena in the passenger seat. "You've been uncharacteristically quiet today," he noted, drawing her attention from the road ahead. "Anything in particular on your mind?"

She looked over at him but quickly averted her eyes again. "No, just glad to be heading home," she replied. "It's going to be nice to sleep in my own bed again."

That seemed to settle the conversation as far as she was concerned.

"Did you like Duke?" he asked, trying to get her to talk more. It had seemed like she had, but she hadn't said anything.

"I did," she told him, a half-smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "The campus is beautiful, and it would be amazing to live in one of those old gothic buildings where the sophomores and juniors and seniors live."

In fact, she had already decided that it would be her first choice when it was time to apply to college, deal or no deal. If she got in, she'd figure out some way to pay for it.

"I knew you'd like it," he said. "Aren't you glad you let me talk you into coming here?"

She nodded. "I am, yeah."

"I wonder if Professor Thornton still teaches," Damon mused out loud after a moment of silence. "No, he must have retired by now, if he's not already dead."

Elena couldn't help but turn to look at him. "You've been to Duke?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I took a couple of history classes there back in … it must have been eighty-six, spring semester."

"And who was Professor Thornton?"

"He taught English history, quite a character." Damon shook his head. "He was from London, and I've never met _anyone_ more British. He refused to adapt to the American way of life in any way, even after living here since he was a in his thirties, I think. He still had tea at five o'clock sharp every day, it didn't matter if he was in a staff meeting, and bought all his food in a store that specialized in British cuisine. His accent was more pronounced than I've heard even _in_ England, and he had three different London papers delivered every day. If you look up the word 'British' in a dictionary, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a picture of him next to it."

Elena laughed. "He sounds like an interesting person," she noted.

"He was," Damon agreed, glad that he had managed to get a laugh out of her. She had been quiet and, he thought, a little sad all day. "But he was in his sixties back then, so he must have retired by now. Maybe gone back to the Motherland. I always got the feeling he was very reluctant about living here."

"What other schools have you been to?" Elena asked. "You said all the Ivy League ones, but other than that?"

They were slowly making their way through his long life, different conversations leading to new stories and memories, and she was starting to discover the kind of person he really was, the person he tried to hide behind the mask of bad-boy-don't-care-what-anyone-thinks-about-me most of the time. The fact that he remembered this particular professor from almost a quarter of a century ago told her that he wasn't as indifferent towards humans as he himself might like to think, or have other think. The problem was that, while the 'old' Damon – the 'psychopath', she remembered calling him, that had come to Mystic Falls almost a year ago, the vampire that had used Caroline to get what he wanted and tried to free Katherine from the tomb underneath the old church not caring that doing that would set loose a horde of vengeful, bloodthirsty vampires – was very easy to hate, the 'new' Damon – the friend that told her stories about the Civil War, Woodstock and the fall of the Berlin wall, that helped her study for her finals and pushed her to at least consider going to a college like Duke, the man that was there for her whenever she needed someone to talk to or ask for advice – was so hard not to love.

And that didn't exactly help with her late night realization and the accompanying decision to ignore the fact that she had feelings for him.

As they continued towards Mystic Falls, he told her about studying philosophy at Berkeley, English at Stanford, physics at MIT, acting at UCLA and even archeology at NYU. And Elena added another layer to the person she was starting to see when she looked at him; curiosity and the desire to learn.

* * *

Summer had really arrived in Mystic Falls when Damon and Elena got back from their road trip. Elena started hanging out a lot with Caroline and Bonnie at the local swimming pool and, since Damon wasn't all that comfortable being out in the sun for hours on end, that limited the time they spent together. He was also busy most of the time, with weekly meetings with the Council to try to find a new Mayor and at least two a week with Liz, discussing the town's vampire problem. And, when he had time to spare, he was looking into the Lockwood's family history, trying to figure out why both the Mayor and Tyler had been affected by Jonathan Gilbert's vampire invention. He didn't actually think Tyler would become a problem and wasn't really prioritizing the search for an answer, but he wanted to be on top of the situation if it suddenly became an issue.

The part of Elena that felt guilty for even feeling something other than friendship for Damon was relieved that they didn't spend that much time together. The other part, the selfish part that was trying to convince her that Stefan had been gone for a long time now and that she didn't have any obligation to him anymore – he was the one who had left, after all – was anything but relieved.

They did still see each other, of course. Most days, he'd stop by the pool when the sun started making its way towards the horizon and it wasn't as hot outside anymore, and then they usually ended up at The Grill or her place, talking, laughing, just enjoying spending time together. Elena tried to convince herself that their relationship was no different from her friendship with Caroline or Bonnie or Matt but, deep down, she knew that she was lying to herself. And, even though they didn't see each other as much as before the road trip, she found herself missing him and thinking about him more when he wasn't there and when she did see him, she felt a sense of relief, like a part of her she hadn't realized had been missing clicked into place.

They scheduled their second road trip, when they would be going north, to the middle of July, and Elena managed to convince Bonnie to go with them. She thought it would be a good idea to have some sort of buffer.

"You don't mind, do you?" she asked Damon after having told him that Bonnie had 'asked' if she could tag along.

"No, of course not," he told her shortly, and she chose to ignore the fact that he was obviously lying.

In the end, though, he told her that since Bonnie was going with her she wouldn't need his company, and that he wasn't going with them.

"Why not?" Elena asked, trying not to give in to the impulse to ask him to please come with them. _It's better this way_, she tried to tell herself.

"Two's company, but three's a crowd," he replied, shrugging. "You'll be fine with Bonnie."

"Yeah, I know."

He wanted her to ask him to go with them anyway, and she wanted to ask him, but neither of them said anything more about it.

"How come Damon backed out?" Bonnie asked when she and Elena left Mystic Falls. "Wasn't the whole college road trip thing his idea to begin with?"

"It was," Elena confirmed. "He said something about 'three's a crowd'. I guess maybe he wasn't all that interesting in getting an overdose of estrogen."

"Maybe," Bonnie agreed doubtfully. "But I'm willing to bet the problem was that he was planning on it just being the two of you, like last time."

"That's ridiculous, Bonnie," Elena objected.

"Oh, come on, Elena!" Bonnie exclaimed, tired of beating around the bush when it came to her friend and Damon. "Everyone knows the guy's in love with you!"

"He is not," Elena immediately protested. "That's absurd."

"Why did you ask me to come along on the trip?" Bonnie changed the angle. "Did you not want to be alone with him?"

The look that flashed across Elena's face told Bonnie everything she needed to know. She had been suspecting that her best friend had feelings for the vampire for a while now and this only confirmed it.

"That had nothing to do with it. I know you want to go to UV in Charlottesville, and we were going there anyway," Elena defended herself.

Bonnie thought about pushing the subject, but realized Elena wasn't going to admit to anything. But she promised herself that she wasn't going to let it go. She wanted her friend to be happy, and if Damon was the one who made that happen … she almost laughed out loud at that thought. If someone had told her only a couple of months ago that she would be trying to get Elena to admit that she was in love with Damon Salvatore and figure out a way to get the two of them together, she would have laughed in their faces. Or, possibly, if that person had been Damon, lit them on fire with just her mind.

* * *

The conversation with Bonnie had Elena a little on edge during the rest of their trip, but the witch didn't bring up Damon again.

She had though that she had been so good at hiding her newly discovered feelings, even from herself, but it was obvious that Bonnie wasn't fooled. Of course, they _had_ been best friends since forever, and Bonnie knew her better than anyone else in the world.

Maybe she should just tell her friend everything? If there was anyone she should be able to talk to about something like this, it was Bonnie. But even though Bonnie and Damon had been getting along better than she had ever expected in the past month or so, Elena was still sure that her best friend would be far from supportive.

So she didn't say anything. And she made up her mind to work even harder on not letting her feelings show.

"How is Stefan?" Bonnie asked on the last day of their trip, when they were on their way back towards Mystic Falls.

"I'm not sure," Elena admitted. "The last Damon heard from the guy he's staying with was about two weeks ago, and they were still in Canada then with no plans to return anytime soon."

"What's the problem?" Bonnie frowned. "Is he having trouble getting back on the animal diet or something? I mean, it's been almost two months now."

"I honestly don't know." Elena sighed. "I don't think Henry, that's his name, tells Damon very much – they're not exactly _friends_, apparently – and if he does, Damon doesn't tell me everything."

"That sucks. You must miss him a lot." As she spoke, Bonnie glanced over at Elena, who was driving, and waited for her to answer.

She was silent for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. "Yeah, I do," she then replied, without sounding very convincing.

Elena's response made Bonnie think she knew what the problem was. Her best friend was one of the most loyal people she knew, and she would never do something like cheat on her boyfriend. And Elena obviously still considered Stefan her boyfriend, despite the fact that she hadn't even talked to him in two months. Bonnie wanted to tell her to just move on, let it go, but she knew that this was a decision that Elena would have to come to on her own. The only thing she could do was be there for her when she needed a friend.

* * *

The rest of the summer passed like summers do; in a blur of sun and barbecues and late night swims in the lake. Gradually, Elena and Damon started spending more time together again, and by the end of August, they had worked their way back to the pre-road-trip state of their relationship.

Much too soon, September arrived and before Elena knew what hit her, school was about to start back up again.

"How's Stefan's great-aunt doing?" Jenna asked Elena the evening before the first day of school.

It took her a moment to realize what Jenna was talking about. Then she remembered the story she had made up to explain Stefan's absence. "She's still having a lot of trouble, something went wrong with the surgery, so he's decided to stick around a little longer," she told Jenna. "He's going to go to a school in Chicago this semester and hopefully she'll be better at Christmas."

Jenna studied her closely for a moment. "When was the last time you talked to him?" she wondered. "I can't remember you saying he's called all summer."

Elena thought for a moment, debating whether the best thing would be to lie or to stick as close to the truth as she could. Not wanting to add to all the lies she already had to keep track of, she decided to go with the truth … at least part of the truth. "I haven't talked to him in a while," she admitted, not getting into details. "I get most of the info from Damon." She didn't specifically say that _Damon_ talked to him, though.

"Is everything OK between you?"

Elena shook her head. "The whole long-distance thing is hard," she said.

"You could have gone to visit him this summer," Jenna pointed out.

Crap! "I thought about it," Elena quickly improvised. "But when I suggested it, the days never worked for him, he was always busy."

"You sound like you don't believe him," Jenna noted.

Elena realized this was an ideal opportunity to plant the idea of her and Stefan breaking up in Jenna's mind, and she made a split decision to do just that.

"I'm not sure," she said with a frown. "I've sort of been getting the feeling that maybe he's met someone there."

Jenna gave her a compassionate look. "Oh, sweetie. Trust me, I've met my share of cheating bastards, and I'm sure Stefan wouldn't do something like that to you."

"No, I know, I know," Elena agreed. "It's probably just in my head."

"But if you feel like that, you should bring it up the next time you talk to him," Jenna suggested. "It's always best to get things like that out in the open. Either way, you won't have to go around worrying anymore."

Elena nodded. "I think I will. Thanks for the advice."

"Any time, honey."

* * *

Another week passed and soon the summer was little more than a memory. Living up to his end of their Duke deal, Damon helped Elena with her homework every day, working to get her GPA up. Their study sessions were always a lot more fun than the actual lessons in school, and more often than not, they got distracted and started discussing literature, movies or something else. The result was that they usually spent most of the afternoons together, rarely finishing before nine or ten in the evening. Not that either of them had a problem with that.

Elena had never learnt so much in such a short time, while still having so much fun, and the feelings she had been working so hard all summer to keep locked up in the back of her mind slowly made their way to the surface until she could no longer ignore them.

Thursday, the second week of school, Caroline roped Elena and Bonnie into helping plan the Homecoming dance that was to take place the second weekend of October.

"We're already behind," she said impatiently at their first meeting. "We need to pick a theme and get started on the decorations today, or we're not going to make it. So chop-chop!"

"She's taking this seriously," Bonnie muttered under her breath a few minutes later. She and Elena were sitting at a table, looking through photos of old Homecoming dances and trying to come up with ideas.

"It's our last Homecoming, and she's convinced she'll be Queen," Elena pointed out. "She just wants it to be perfect."

"I can't believe you're not running," Bonnie said. "You used to love these kinds of things."

Elena shrugged. "It was always something I did with my mom," she explained. "I did the Miss Mystic Falls for her, since she had already signed me up for it, but it feels wrong to keep it up now that she's gone. And it's not as much fun without her, either."

"I get that." Bonnie nodded, glancing up at her friend. "So, are you going with Damon to the dance?" she asked.

Elena thought for a moment. "I don't know, we haven't talked about it," she then said.

"I'm sure he'd love to take you," Bonnie pointed out carefully, not sure how Elena would react. She was actually a little surprised that her friend hadn't outright denied even thinking about going with Damon to the dance.

"I'll talk to him about it when I see him tonight," Elena decided.

They flipped through the photo albums Caroline had brought in silence for a moment.

"How are things with you two?" Bonnie then asked, getting the feeling that there was something her friend wanted to get off her chest.

Elena stared down at the photo in front of her for a moment, trying to decide what to say. "It's hard, Bonnie," she then mumbled.

Bonnie wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not here."

Bonnie looked up to find Caroline yelling at a couple of scared looking girls across the room. "Come on, let's go," she said, pulling Elena to her feet.

"Caroline will kill us," Elena pointed out. "We promised we'd help out."

"And we will. But, be realistic. We're not going to get a say in the theme, she'll decide that all on her own. We'll help with the decorations once she's come up with something."

Elena smiled. "That's true."

"Then come on!" Bonnie tugged on Elena's arm. "While she's not looking."

They got out of the room without Caroline noticing and made their way out of the school, sitting down at one of the picnic tables outside. It was a little after five in the afternoon, but the temperature was still in the seventies.

"OK, spill," Bonnie ordered.

Elena sighed. "I just don't know what to do."

"Let me just get the facts straight," Bonnie said. "You're finally admitting that you're in love with Damon, right? Which I've known for weeks, by the way."

"I don't know …" Elena hesitated. "I definitely have feelings for him, but I've pretty much been ignoring that, so I haven't been exploring exactly _what_ it is that I'm feeling."

"But it goes beyond simple attraction or whatever?" Bonnie wanted to know. "Because I'm pretty sure most women would find him attractive."

"Bonnie!"

"What? I'm only human," Bonnie defended herself. "The guy is hot!"

"I just never expected _you_ to say something like that," Elena replied. "You're not exactly the best of friends."

"We've been playing nice all summer," Bonnie pointed out.

"I know, I just figured that was for my benefit."

"Well, I'm glad to know you think so highly of yourself," Bonnie teased. "But, seriously, he hasn't tried to kill me in months; he's kind of grown on me."

Elena laughed. "That's funny, Jenna said the exact same thing a couple of months ago."

"He's not the same person anymore," Bonnie continued a little more seriously. "I won't ever forget what he's done, and I'm sure you won't either, but he's changed."

Elena nodded. "I know."

"So answer the question."

Elena remembered that night in Durham, over two months ago. "It's not just attraction."

"OK then, let's get to the problem," Bonnie said in a very businesslike manner. "Stefan."

The guilt that seemed to be a constant part of Elena's life these days stabbed at her mind.

"You haven't even mentioned him since our road trip," Bonnie said softly. "Have you heard anything from him?"

Elena shook her head. "I know he's still in Canada, but that's it," she replied. "He still doesn't want to talk to Damon, and I don't even know if he knows that I know where he is … did that even make sense?" Bonnie nodded. "Anyway, I don't know if he'd want to talk to me, either."

"OK, so the guy kills someone, takes off without a word and doesn't even contact you in four months," Bonnie summarized and Elena flinched. "Anyone else would think that constituted a break-up, why not you?"

"I just feel like I would be betraying him," Elena mumbled.

"Sweetie, you don't even know if he'll ever come back," Bonnie pointed out. "Don't you think he'd want you to move on with your life?"

"Maybe," Elena allowed. "But definitely not with _Damon_."

"Well, that's not his call to make."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a while.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Bonnie asked.

"I honestly don't know," Elena replied. "It's hard to even remember the way I felt about him before he left when I haven't seen him or talked to him in so long."

"Well, try to think out loud, sometimes that helps," Bonnie suggested.

Elena was silent for a moment. "I've started questioning the way I felt about him in the first place," she admitted.

"How do you mean?"

"Well, he showed up here when I was going through a hard time, after my parents died, and I was looking for something to help me get through that," she started.

Bonnie nodded; she remembered.

"And he was there for me," Elena continued. "I'm not trying to say that I would have fallen in love with _anyone_ or that I _wasn't _in love with him, because I was, but he was so easy to talk to and he understood how I was feeling … and then when I found out about the day my parents died, even though I didn't realize it at the time, I think it somehow intensified the feelings that were already there."

Bonnie frowned. "What about the day your parents died?"

Elena realized that she had never told Bonnie about that. "He was there, he was the one who pulled me out of the car after it went off the bridge."

"So he basically saved your life?" Bonnie concluded.

"There's no 'basically' about it, if he hadn't been there that day I would be dead now."

"Wow, talk about a reversed savior complex," Bonnie mused out loud.

"Thank you very much, Miss Psych One-oh-one," Elena said dryly.

"I'm just saying that it's only natural that you feel guilty," Bonnie explained. "The guy saved your life."

"I didn't tell you all of this so you could shrink me. I was hoping you'd help me figure out what to do," Elena complained.

"OK, how about this?" Bonnie started. "Close your eyes, clear your mind, just say yes or no when I ask you a question, OK?"

Elena nodded, eyes closed. "OK."

"Ready? Do you secretly want to be the Homecoming Queen?"

"No."

"Are you worried about getting into a good college?"

"Yes."

"If Stefan came back today and told you that he wanted to pick up where you left off, would you?"

"No."

"So you don't have feelings for him anymore?"

"No."

"Are you in love with Damon?"

"Yes."

Bonnie didn't ask anything more, and after a moment, Elena opened her eyes.

"There's your answer," Bonnie told her. "If you keep going like this, you're gonna be miserable, and I don't want you to be. Stefan left, not you. I think you've held onto him for long enough. You need to let go."

"I know."

"And can I make a suggestion?" Elena nodded and Bonnie continued, "I think the loyalty you're feeling towards him and the guilt that's keeping you from taking the step to find out if you could have something with Damon is at least partly you being afraid that you'll get hurt."

Elena contemplated that for a moment. "I think you might be right."

"And since it's so obvious that he's _completely _in love with you, you have nothing to worry about," Bonnie concluded.

Elena frowned. "I don't know about that …"

"Oh, please! You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see that." Bonnie gave Elena an exasperated look. "And you've never been either of those."

Elena nodded, but she still wasn't completely sure. But, she tried to tell herself, she wouldn't know until she did something about it …

* * *

**AN: OK, so Elena's finally come to her senses. I know you're all probably just waiting for 'the good part', and we'll get there, I promise. The reason I decided to do a bit of a time jump in this chapter is that I feel it would take Elena some time to get past feeling guilty about Stefan, even after realizing she has feelings for Damon, and I didn't want to just go through a bunch of every-day events to get there. Hope you liked this chapter and, as always, let me know …**


	13. Chapter twelve

**AN: So Elena's finally admitted to herself how she feels about Damon, progress, right? Unfortunately, things won't go completely their way just yet … but, don't fear, we'll get to the Delena goodness soon! Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, and a big thanks and hopes that she'll feel better soon to my beta, sunshine2006578.**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter twelve**

Elena stood in front of the mirror for a long time when she got home from school that afternoon, fingering the necklace with vervain that she was still wearing around her neck.

She had thought about taking it off more than once since the night Stefan left, but somehow she hadn't been able to do it. It would have felt like she was giving up, like she had betrayed him. Now, it felt like a good way to start letting go, and also a symbolic way to show people … OK, _Damon_, that she was moving on.

She pulled her hair out of the way and undid the clasp, putting the piece of jewelry into the jewelry box on her dresser. The simple gesture made a sense of relief wash through her. She left the room with a new spring in her step and went downstairs and into the kitchen where Jenna was just pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"You want some?" she asked, holding up the pot.

"Please," Elena replied, getting a mug from the cupboard.

Jenna watched her while she poured the liquid into her cup.

"You're not wearing your necklace," she noted after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I … Stefan gave it to me, and I just …" Elena replied, shrugging. She had thought about what to say when Jenna mentioned the absence of her necklace.

"You talked to him about your suspicions?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah." Elena nodded. "And there's a girl in Chicago. I mean, he told me that nothing's happened between them, but I sort of got the impression that it was only because of me. So I told him that maybe we should just break up, at least for now. I'm here and he's there and the whole long distance thing just isn't working. I don't think he exactly minded."

"I'm sorry, honey," Jenna said, reaching out to comfortingly rub Elena's arm. "At least now you know."

"Yeah, I know, it's better this way." Elena sighed. "And it's not like I didn't see it coming. I just need to get used to the idea."

"I'm here if you want to talk," Jenna told her at the same time as there was a knock on the door.

"I know, Aunt Jenna," Elena assured her. "And I appreciate it."

She left the kitchen to let Damon in.

"Class is now in session, kiddies," he said when she opened the door, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Ready for the wonderful world of knowledge?"

"Shut up and explain the difference between the preterite and the imperfect forms in Spanish," she replied, leading the way up the stairs. "Is it 'hablé con mi hermano' or 'hablaba con mi hermano'?"

"OK, first of all; you're saying that _all_ wrong," he told her, following her into her room and sitting down on the chair by the desk. Elena took a seat on the bed. "You never pronounce the 'h' in Spanish, haven't they taught you _anything_ in that sorry excuse for a school?"

Elena smiled, looking down at the bed. She _did_ know that, but she loved hearing him go on about how useless the education was these days, so she had faked it.

"And whether you use the preterite or the imperfect depends on the situation," he continued. "The preterite is used to show that something that took place in the past was instantaneous or a completed action. The imperfect, on the other hand, is used when you talk about something that was ongoing in the past, that didn't just happen once. So, if you want to say that you talked to your brother yesterday, you use the preterite, and if you want to say that you used to talk to your brother every day after school or something like that, you use the imperfect."

"OK, so 'ayer hablé con mi hermano'?" she tried, and he nodded.

"But, for example, 'cada día durante el año pasado, hablaba con mi hermano por teléfono'."

She looked up at him with envy in her eyes. "OK, I'm never going to be able to talk like _that_." His perfect pronunciation always impressed her.

"It takes years and years of practice," he told her, making it sound like it was no big deal. "I'm a little rusty, I haven't used the language much since I left Spain back in seventy-one."

"Were you there for long?" she asked, having a feeling that they were going to get off track for a while.

"About two years," he replied. "Longest I stayed anywhere during my European tour."

"How come?" This was another glimpse into his mind and she wanted to explore it.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Something about the people, the way of life … it suited me at the time."

"So would you say that that's one of your favorite countries?" she wondered.

"I guess."

"And …"

He frowned. "'And' what?"

"What other countries are your favorites?" she clarified. "Since you claim you've been to _all_ of them."

He laughed at the fact that she still didn't believe that. "That's a really hard question to answer," he then said. "All the countries I've spent any amount of time in I've stayed in for some reason or other."

"OK, so where have you stayed for longer than, say, a month."

"You'll really do _anything _to get out of studying Spanish grammar, won't you?"

She rolled her eyes. "I just find it interesting. I've never been out of the country, or very far from Mystic Falls for that matter,which means I have to live vicariously through the stories you tell me. So spill."

He wanted to take her places, show her the world. But, right now, this was all he could offer.

"OK, here we go …"

And he told her about all the countries he had called home, for briefer or longer periods of time. They talked about Santiago, Rio, Casablanca, Bangkok, Sydney, and every other city he had ever lived in.

By the time he was wrapping up a story about Rome, it was getting dark outside. "And that's pretty much it," he concluded.

"OK, honest answer, please," she said. "Favorite place you've ever lived?"

"Mystic Falls," he replied without hesitation. "It'll always be home."

She looked at him for a moment, making sure he was sincere. "Good answer."

She had counted on him noticing that she wasn't wearing the necklace Stefan had given her, but when they picked up their study session after dinner, he still hadn't said anything. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, hoping her movement would draw his attention. It worked.

"Why aren't you wearing the vervain necklace?" he asked, sounding a little worried.

She looked up at him. "I thought it was time to take it off," she explained, hoping that he'd understand that it was about more than just the necklace.

"Aren't you afraid I'll compel you into doing something you don't want to do?" The suggestive way in which he said it and the look in his eyes made it quite obvious what he was referring to and Elena blushed.

"No." That was true on two levels: she wasn't worried that he would compel her in the first place, but, if he did, she wasn't worried about anything he might make her do …

"You shouldn't trust vampires that easily," he pointed out with a smirk.

"I don't," she replied. "I trust _you_."

The puzzled look on his face told her that he couldn't quite figure out what to make of that.

* * *

Damon had declared Friday a no-study day – along with Saturday and Sunday, which Elena had at first objected to, but they'd had no problem getting through her homework during the days they _did_ study, so she had agreed to it – so instead of waiting for him at home with her books, Elena only stopped at the house quickly after school and then continued to The Grill.

He was already there when she entered the restaurant, and that familiar flutter in her stomach that she had started to associate with seeing him made her smile.

"Got you a present," he said when she sat down opposite him in the booth he was occupying.

"Why?" she asked, eyeing the little box he had put down on the table between them. "It's not my birthday."

"OK, I'll save it, then," he told her, grabbing the box again, but she put her hand on top of his, stopping him.

"I didn't say I didn't _want_ it," she objected, and he turned his hand around so she could take the box from him. "What is it?"

"Here's a funny thought, why don't you open it and find out?"

"Sarcasm will get you nowhere," she said, pulling off the ribbon that was tied around the box.

"Isn't it 'flattery will get you everywhere'?" he corrected.

"Yeah, well, I modified it." She lifted the lid off the little box, discovering a beautiful silver charm bracelet. "Oh my God, it's amazing." She turned the bracelet over in her hand. "Thank you."

"That one," he said, pointing to a small heart that looked like it could be opened, "has vervain in it. With your luck, I think it's best if you still have some on you."

"Presents are better if they're not accompanied by insults," she replied dryly. "You might want to try it."

"Nah, where's the fun in that." He flashed her a smile. "Here, I'll help you put it on."

She gave him the bracelet and held out her wrist. When he had fastened the clasp, she held her arm up in front of her, admiring the charms. In addition to the heart, there was a small, intricate key, a cross, a rose and a star.

"I love it," she told him sincerely after a moment.

"I'm glad."

"Listen, there's something I meant to talk to you about yesterday, but it completely slipped my mind," she said, remembering the Homecoming Dance. "Homecoming's in a couple of weeks, and Caroline's in charge, as always. I have to go, and I thought that maybe you could come with me? If you want to, of course."

"A high school dance?" He didn't sound too excited. "Lame music, spiked punch and drunk teenagers?"

She felt her face fall a little and looked down at the table between them to hide her disappointment. "Never mind, you don't have to."

"Did I _say_ that I didn't want to go?" He waited until she looked up at him before he continued. "I was simply stating the facts. And I happen to think that drunk teenagers can be _very_ amusing."

"Is that a yes?" she asked, a little impatiently.

"It is," he confirmed. "Will you be expecting the whole nine yards?"

"What nine yards?"

"Getting picked up, corsage, that sort of thing."

She sighed. "No, just show up and I'll be happy."

* * *

The weeks leading up to the dance went by much like the previous ones; Elena and Damon spent most afternoons in Elena's room, studying and occasionally getting off track and into more interesting topics. Elena and Bonnie helped Caroline set everything up for the Homecoming Dance; the theme was to be Hawaii, and they stocked up on leis, fake palm trees and beautiful photos of different beaches to put up around the gym.

"I really hope Caroline get's Homecoming Queen," Bonnie said the Monday before the dance when she was driving Elena home after school.

"Yeah, she deserves it," Elena agreed, and Bonnie snorted.

"Sure, but I was thinking more about what she'll do if she doesn't win," she said. "Can you imagine? She might try to strangle the poor girl with a lei or something."

Elena wanted to object, but they both knew Caroline well enough to know that this was a definite possibility.

"So are you going to make your big move on Saturday?" Bonnie asked a moment later.

Elena sighed. "I don't know. I was kind of counting on _him_ making some kind of move, but, so far, nothing."

"Look, I know that you probably _think_ you've been really obvious, but sometimes guys just don't get it," Bonnie said, shaking her head. "They need a push in the right direction."

"Tell me about it," Elena mumbled.

"If you want, I could always talk to him for you," Bonnie suggested with a smile. "It would be very first grade. 'My friend has a crush on you, do you want to be her boyfriend?' I can even do it with a note, you know, 'Check the box for yes, no or maybe'."

Elena poked Bonnie in the ribs. "Very funny. Why don't you worry about your own romantic life and stay out of mine?"

Bonnie threw her a dark glance. "Thanks for that reminder. I haven't been on a date since Ben the Vampire Bartender tried to use me to get into the tomb under the church."

"Sorry," Elena apologized. "Didn't mean to bring that up. Seriously though, you should ask someone to the dance."

"Like who?"

"There must be _someone_ you'd want to go with," Elena insisted, and Bonnie looked away. "I knew it! Who?"

"Well …" Bonnie started. "Jason Peters _has_ been looking pretty good this year. And he made the football team."

Elena nodded in encouragement. "He's cute. You should definitely ask him."

Bonnie hesitated. "He probably already has a date. The dance _is_ this Saturday."

"All the more reason to ask him as soon as possible," Elena pointed out. "And you won't know if he has a date until you try. You don't have to come right out and ask him to the dance, just poke around a little, see if he has a date. And if he doesn't …"

"OK, OK, I will. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Great!"

They were at her house by now, and Elena spotted Damon on the porch.

"Speaking of beating around the bush …" Bonnie hinted.

"Shut up," Elena threw back.

"I'll see you tomorrow, have fun _studying_."

Elena rolled her eyes at Bonnie before getting out of the car.

"You're early," she noted as she walked up the path to the porch. "And you could have waited inside; Jenna even lets you on the furniture these days."

"Ha ha." He got up and followed her into the house, which was, to Elena's surprise, empty. She had thought Jenna would be home. "Listen, about Saturday …"

She turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. She had actually been half-expecting for this; he hadn't seemed very excited about the dance in the first place. "What?"

"Don't get all defensive," he said, raising his hands in a surrendering motion. "All I was going to say is that I _might_ be a little late, because Rick and I are going to Duke."

Elena frowned. "What? Why?"

She knew that Alaric had been looking into the possibility of the research Isobel had been doing at Duke, about paranormal activities in and around Mystic Falls, covering the Lockwoods, but she hadn't heard anything more about it.

"Isobel's research assistant is finally back from wherever she was this summer and has agreed to meet with us," Damon said. "The only time she's available for weeks is Saturday."

"Oh. OK, that's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, of course," Elena assured him. "I'll be busy all day in the gym, helping Caroline with the decorations, anyway. And then I have to get ready. I won't have time for you."

"Thank you for putting it that way," he said dryly. "Anyway, we're gonna get an early start and hopefully be back well before the dance, but just in case I'm not on time, I don't want you to freak out or anything."

"It's not a problem."

"I'm not trying to get out of it."

"Of course not."

* * *

Elena didn't have time to even worry about Damon being late for the dance on Saturday. Caroline kept her, Bonnie, Matt and the rest of the Homecoming Committee busy the entire morning and well into the afternoon.

"The place is perfect, Care," Matt told his girlfriend at three P.M., pulling her away from the palm tree she was rearranging. "Don't you wanna go home and get ready? The dance starts in three hours."

Caroline threw one last glance around the gym and nodded. "I think you're right; it _is _perfect."

"Great, then can we leave?" Bonnie asked, sounding exhausted.

"Yes, Bonnie, you can," Caroline allowed. "See you later."

Bonnie and Elena made their way out of the gym and over to the parking lot.

"I honestly don't know if I'll have any energy left for dancing," Bonnie complained. "Caroline really outdid herself this time."

"She did," Elena agreed. "But I'm sure Jason can get you to muster some energy." She winked at Bonnie who smiled.

"I sure hope so," she said.

"OK, see you later." Elena got into her car.

"Hey, have you heard anything from Damon?" Bonnie asked before Elena had a chance to close the door. "If they've found anything in Isobel's research, I mean?"

"No." Elena frowned, looking at her watch. "He said that he was going to call when they left the campus. But it's only three, and the drive doesn't take more than an hour and a half, tops." He had insisted on at least picking her up before the dance and had told her that he was going to call when they were leaving Durham so she would know when to expect him.

"OK, just wanted to check," Bonnie said. "I'm kind of intrigued by the whole Lockwood mystery; I want to know what they find out."

"We'll talk about it at the dance, OK?" Elena told her, closing the door. After waving to Caroline and Matt, who had emerged from the gym as well, she headed home.

When she got home, she took a shower before getting Jenna to help her with her hair. She didn't want to put her dress on until right before she left, since it wrinkled easily, but she finished her make-up and put on the underwear she was going to wear under a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

At five, she started wondering if Damon was going to be late. If there wasn't much traffic, you could make the drive from Durham in an hour and fifteen minutes, but the dance started at six. On the other hand, he _had_ said that they might get back late. Maybe they had found something really interesting.

"Hey, Jenna!" she called into the hallway.

"Yeah?" Jenna appeared in the doorway.

"Have you heard anything from Alaric today?"

"No." Jenna shook her head. "But he's not supposed to be here for another forty-five minutes, at least."

Alaric was chaperoning at the dance and Jenna was going with him, but she didn't know about his and Damon's road trip, so Elena couldn't push the subject.

"Do you need help with your dress?" Jenna asked, and Elena nodded.

"Yeah, thanks."

She pulled off the clothes she had been wearing and stepped into the dress, which Jenna was holding up. She didn't want to pull it over her head and risk messing up her hair and make-up. When Jenna had zipped the dress up, Elena turned in front of the mirror, making sure it looked good. The dance was semi-formal, and the dress wasn't anything spectacular, like the dress she knew Caroline was going to wear, but it had caught her eye at the store and when she had tried it on, she had immediately fallen in love with it. It was strapless and came to a little above her knee. The ocean blue color worked really well with her hair and complexion, and the entire dress was covered in little clusters of glittering stones that she thought looked kind of like stars.

"You look absolutely perfect," Jenna told her.

"You really think so?" Elena turned to look at the dress from the side.

"I do. And I think Damon will too."

At that moment, the doorbell rang and Jenna frowned.

"That's either your date or mine," she concluded. "Either way, he's early."

"Then it's definitely Alaric," Elena tried to joke, while feeling butterflies – and not of the good kind – in her stomach. Was something wrong?

Jenna went downstairs to let whoever it was at the door in, and Elena slowly followed her. When she saw that it was Alaric, she felt her stomach drop into her feet. She could tell from the look on his face that something had happened.

"You're early," Jenna complained. "I was helping Elena, so I'm not done yet."

"I'm early?" He checked his watch after giving Elena a look that she wanted to interpret as reassuring. "Didn't we say a quarter past five?"

"No, we said a quarter to _six_," Jenna corrected him. "The dance doesn't even start until six."

"I must have gotten the times mixed up," he concluded with a sheepish look on his face. "But you just go get ready, Elena can keep me company in the meantime."

"OK, I will." Jenna passed Elena on her way back upstairs. "Be right back."

"What's wrong?" Elena asked quietly, but with urgency in her voice, when Jenna had closed the door to her bedroom.

"Everything's fine," Alaric started, and she let out a sigh of relief. "But Damon wanted me to tell you that he can't make it tonight."

"What happened?"

"He specifically asked me not to tell you," Alaric said, shaking his head. "He said to go to the dance with your friends, and he'd see you tomorrow and tell you everything."

"I don't care what he said," Elena fumed. "Tell me what the hell happened!"

Alaric glanced behind Elena, making sure Jenna hadn't heard her raised voice.

"Fine. I told him that you wouldn't just let it go, but he just said to refuse to tell you anything."

Elena waited impatiently, biting her lip.

"The woman, Vanessa, apparently knew pretty much everything that Isobel knew about the supernatural," he started. "Including who Damon was. She recognized him."

"And?" Elena pushed, wanting him to get to the point.

"She had a weapon, similar to one of mine, and she shot him with a dart full of vervain."

Elena's hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh my God!"

"He's fine," Alaric repeated. "It knocked him out for a while, and he's still weak, so I took him back to the boarding house. There's nothing you can do, so just go to the dance and try to have a good time, please."

Like that was going to happen. "Can you tell Aunt Jenna that I left?" Elena asked, grabbing her coat. "Make up some sort of story why I won't be at the dance and text me to let me know what to tell her."

"Elena, wait, he's really fine, there's no need for you to go over there," Alaric insisted. "He'll kill me if he finds out I told you what happened."

"Don't worry, I'll tell him I forced it out of you," Elena assured him before leaving the house. It wasn't that she didn't believe Alaric when he said that Damon was fine, but she needed to see for herself. And if he was weak, she didn't like the idea of him being alone. They hadn't been bothered by anything paranormal for months, but it wouldn't surprise her if something happened tonight of all nights.

She was at the boarding house in ten minutes and didn't bother knocking. The door was unlocked and she found Damon in the living room, lying on the couch, a glass of some sort of alcohol in his hand.

"The teacher is going to pay for this," he muttered without any real conviction when she walked into the room.

"No he's not," she told him, taking the glass from him and setting it down on the table. "And _you_ should have told me yourself."

"I was going to," he objected weakly. "Tomorrow."

Elena took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. "Did you honestly think I was just going to accept what he said and go off to the dance and have a good time? You know me better than that."

"It was a vain hope, I admit," he replied, struggling into an upright position. His apparent lack of strength and incredibly pale face made her forget that she was mad at him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, sitting down on the table in front of him. "Alaric said that the vervain made you weak."

He nodded before leaning his head against the back of the couch. "Knocked me out for a while. Luckily, Rick managed to convince that … _woman_ that I wasn't a threat to her and even got her to tell him about Isobel's research."

"We can talk about that later," she said. "Have you eaten anything?" She didn't know much about vampire physique, but blood should make him stronger, right?

"Rick would only go as far as to pour me some bourbon," Damon replied, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the glass. "I'm gathering my strength for a trip to the basement, but it might take a while."

Elena got up. "I'll be right back."

She had no problem finding her way around the house, but the basement was pretty much unchartered territory to her. Luckily, there was electrical light down there, and after a couple of wrong turns, she found a room with a large fridge. Trying not to think too much about what it was she was holding in her hand, she hurried back upstairs with two bags of blood.

Damon hadn't moved. "Would you mind heating it up?" he asked when she handed him one of the bags, but the look on her face apparently made him think better of it, because he tore the bag open with his teeth, gulping down the contents.

Elena thought that she would be disgusted, but, for some reason, she wasn't. Instead, she felt fascinated as she watched him drink the blood. As the bag emptied, she could see the color returning to his face.

"Better?" she asked when he tossed the empty bag onto the table.

"Yeah, thanks." He really looked at her for the first time and an appreciative expression appeared on his face. "Aren't you a little overdressed for a sick call? Not that I'm complaining."

"I'd just gotten dressed for the dance when Alaric showed up," she explained. "And, actually, would you mind if I borrowed something to wear? It's a little chilly."

"Sure, go ahead," he told her with a wave of the hand. "You know where my room is."

"Thanks." She gave him the other blood bag before leaving the room and climbing the stairs.

When she got into his room, she opened the top drawer in his dresser, discovering a bunch of black t-shirts. Taking one out, she opened the next drawer. Underwear. She was going to close the drawer again, but something caught her eye. A piece of paper was tucked into the corner, and she just couldn't resist the temptation.

_Damon,_

_I have to get away. I can't stay here, can't be around her after what I did. Good news for you, right? Now you can leave too, when I'm no longer here to torment. Know this: if you do anything to hurt Elena, anything at all, I will hunt you down and I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?_

_S _

She reread the note, not completely taking in what it said. Damon had told her that he had talked to Stefan that night. Why had he lied to her?

_To protect you, silly,_ a little voice told her. _He didn't want you to think that Stefan just took off without a word._

She sighed and put the note back, careful to place it in the exact same position. If this was Damon's way of protecting her, she was going to pretend like she hadn't found the note.

She opened the last two drawers, which held socks and jeans. She was pretty sure that the jeans would be too big on her, and not very comfortable either. She scanned the room, discovering a pair of black sweat pants on a chair in the corner, and grabbed those as well.

Damon hadn't seemed like he was in any condition to walk up the stairs, but she still went into the bathroom to change. The t-shirt was a little big, coming almost to her knees, and she had to roll the pants up a little and tighten the drawstring in the waist as far as it would go. But she was pretty sure they wouldn't fall off, at least.

Hanging her dress over the back of a chair, she went back downstairs.

When she came back into the living room, the second blood bag was empty as well, and Damon was sitting up a little straighter.

"Not that I don't look good in that, but I think you might have me beat," he said when he saw her outfit.

Elena ignored him, sitting down in one corner of the couch and turning to face him. "OK, tell me what happened."

"I'm guessing Rick already filled you in on the hot little assistant shooting me with some sort of vervain dart?" he assumed, his eyes glinting with annoyance. "I wasn't exactly aware of much after that, but Rick says that she told him about Isobel's research and they found something called the curse of the sun and the moon, about vampires and werewolves."

"Werewolves?" Elena asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I believe it," he admitted. "But since Tyler Lockwood is obviously _something_, I'm not going to rule it out. Alaric has a book the assistant gave him, he said he'd bring it over tomorrow so I could have a look at it."

"Good." She let out a breath, finally able to relax. "You had me really worried, you know."

"Sorry."

"If you didn't want to go to the dance, all you had to do was say so," she joked half-heartedly. "You didn't have to go and get shot."

* * *

**AN: OK, so I changed the scene with Vanessa a little, making the cross bow into a vervain dart. I wanted Damon to be weakened somehow so Elena could get to take care of him a little, I hope it worked. And, if anyone's interested in Elena's dress, I'm going to try and post a link on my profile. As always, let me know what you think … **


	14. Chapter thirteen

**AN: OK, as far as I can tell, the link to the website where I found Elena's dress is up on my profile. Could anyone let me know if it's visible to everyone else? I might put other links on there, so I want to know if it works or not. As always, thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed – you guys make my day! Closing in on 20 000 hits now and 132 reviews! And lots of hugs for my amazing beta, sunshine2006578 – you're the best! Suggestion: if you haven't heard the Lifehouse song **_**Everything **_**before****, which also gave this story its name, go to youtube and listen to it, the new version from the album **_**Smoke & Mirrors**_**. And if you have heard it, listen to it again. It'll help set the mood for this chapter … And, no, I wasn't at the concert in New York, unfortunately. Wish I had been, though. **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter thirteen **

Despite the blood, Damon was still not back to his usual self.

"I'll be fine once the vervain's out of my system," he assured Elena. "It'll take a little time but I'm sure I'll be right as rain tomorrow afternoon."

"Then I'm staying here tonight," she told him, not about to leave him there by himself. Who knew what kind of trouble he would get into?

"Feel free," he replied, not sounding too upset.

Elena's cell phone chirped then, and she opened a text from Alaric.

"Alaric's told Jenna that you're sick and that I went over to help you out," she told Damon. "I'm just going to call her and tell her that I won't be home tonight."

She dialed Jenna's number. _"Hello?"_

"Aunt Jenna, hi."

"_Hey Elena. __How's Damon doing? Rick told me that he's caught a really bad bout of the flu."_

"Yeah, he's feeling really bad," Elena told her. "You know how guys can get when they're sick." Damon rolled his eyes and Elena had to suppress a laugh. "Anyway, I don't want him to be all alone, so I thought I'd stay here tonight if that's OK."

Jenna hesitated for a moment. _"I guess,"_ she then said, not sounding completely convinced it was a good idea. _"There must be a guest room somewhere in that gigantic house, right?"_

"Subtle, Aunt Jenna," Elena said. "And, yes, I'm sure there is."

"_OK then, I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Have fun at the dance."

"_I will. And you … have not so much fun over there, OK?"_

Laughing, Elena hung up.

"Aunt Goody-Two-Shoes got suspicious?" Damon wondered. "Did she think you'd take advantage of me in my weakened state? I _have_ already gotten you out of your clothes. The only problem now is that you're wearing _mine_. What are we going to do about that …?"

Elena ignored him. He might not have recovered his strength, but there was nothing seriously wrong with him. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?" she suggested, looking for some sort of distraction.

"Yeah, I've got a couple new ones on my computer. You wanna go and get it?"

Again, she climbed the stairs and went into his room, this time retrieving the laptop from its desk. They watched a movie and then another one, but by the time the credits started rolling across the screen for the second time, Elena decided that it was time to call it a night. Damon was almost asleep next to her on the couch.

"OK, that's it, time for bed," she announced.

"I've been waiting to hear you say that all night," Damon mumbled, eyes still closed.

"And if I told you that you could do whatever you wanted with me in that bed, what would you do?" she couldn't help but ask.

He contemplated her question for a moment, opening one eye to give her an evaluative look, then sighed. "Tonight, nothing. But don't think I'll forget you said that."

She laughed and helped him up from the couch. He leaned heavily on her as they made their way up the stairs.

"You're not seriously going to sleep in one of the guest rooms, are you?" he asked when she had deposited him on his bed, obviously having heard Jenna's part of the conversation earlier through the phone. She hesitated. "They haven't been used in months, they'll be all stuffy. Come on, I'm harmless. At least right now."

"Just don't get any ideas, mister," she told him sternly.

"I already have plenty of ideas that involve you, me and a bed."

* * *

Elena spent the entire day Sunday at the boarding house. Alaric came over a little after noon and they went through the book that he had gotten from Isobel's assistant. It didn't say much about the werewolves, only told the legend of the curse of the sun and the moon. The basic story was that vampires and werewolves had tormented the Aztecs six hundred years earlier, and to protect themselves, a shaman had put a curse on them, making it impossible for vampires to go out in the sun and forcing werewolves to change at the full moon.

"Vanessa told me a little more," Alaric said when Damon and Elena had finished reading the legend. "She said that vampires and werewolves have been bitter enemies ever since, and that because a bite from a werewolf is said to kill a vampire they have hunted the wolves to near extinction."

"I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time believing all of this." Damon shook his head. "I mean, I've been around for a century and a half; if there were werewolves out there, I think I would have run into one by now."

"Not if there aren't many left," Elena pointed out. "She said that they were nearly extinct."

"And it would explain why Tyler and the Mayor reacted to the vampire device," Alaric argued. "I knew it was like one of those dog whistles."

Damon threw the teacher a deadly look. "I can agree that it's a possible explanation as to why they reacted like they did, but I still don't know …" He shrugged.

"So the werewolf gene is inherited then?" Elena asked. "I mean, if the Mayor had it and passed it on to Tyler?"

"I'm not sure, the legend doesn't say anything about that, but it's only logical," Alaric replied.

"But Tyler isn't a werewolf; I've seen him during the full moon, and he doesn't turn into something large and furry," she told them. "Does the curse only get activated once a person reaches a certain age, like eighteen, or something? Only I'm pretty sure someone would have seen the Mayor if he spent one night a month running around as a big wolf, so that doesn't work either … Maybe you have to do something to trigger the curse and actually get turned into a werewolf?"

Alaric scanned the pages in the book. "There's nothing in here about that either, but I'll keep looking," he said.

"Sounds good, teach." Damon pushed himself up from the couch and went over to the table with the liquor, pouring himself a glass of bourbon.

"I'm gonna get going." Alaric got up as well, turning to Elena. "I think Jenna's expecting you to be home for dinner tonight. You do have school tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Daddy, I'll have her home by curfew," Damon interjected.

Alaric sighed. "Bye."

* * *

Since Damon was able to get around by himself and even climb the stairs without help, Elena left at seven that evening.

"How is the patient?" Jenna asked when she got home.

"Better," Elena replied from the kitchen doorway, noticing that Jenna was cooking. "You want me to set the table?"

"Jeremy's already on it," Jenna told her. "But you can go help him if you want."

Elena went into the room and discovered Jeremy at the table. "Did you have fun at the dance last night?" she asked, taking the cutlery from his hand and putting it down by the plates that were already on the table.

"Yeah, it was good," he replied, giving her a questioning look. "What's wrong with Damon? Jenna just said that he was _sick_." He worded the question in a manner that wouldn't make Jenna suspicious.

"Flu," Elena told him, then mouthed the words "I'll tell you later". Jeremy nodded.

When they had finished dinner, he followed her upstairs.

"So what's really the deal with Damon? Vampires don't get sick, right?"

"You haven't talked to Rick today?" Jeremy shook his head. "He and Damon went to Duke yesterday, to talk to Isobel's research assistant about what paranormal phenomena, apart from vampires, are rumored to inhabit the area around Mystic Falls. We want to know why the Mayor and Tyler were affected by Jonathan's vampire device back at the Founder's Day celebration."

"There's _other_ stuff out there?" he asked incredulously. "Vampires aren't enough?"

"Apparently not. Anyway, the woman they were meeting had read up on Isobel's research, and she recognized Damon, so she shot him with a vervain dart." Now that she had gotten over the initial worry, she had to keep from smiling at the image.

"Vervain's bad for them, right?"

Elena nodded. "Very, especially if they ingest it or it's injected straight into their bloodstream. Damon's still not back to his full strength, but at least he was up and if not running then at least moving when I left. He'll be fine."

"And what about the 'other paranormal stuff'?" Jeremy wondered. "Did they find out anything?"

"We're not sure," Elena told him. "There's a legend about vampires and werewolves, but Damon doesn't believe it. I don't know _what_ I think."

"Why shouldn't werewolves exist?" Jeremy shrugged. "I mean, up until pretty recently, neither of us believed in vampires either, right?"

He had a point. "Alaric's going to look into it a little further," Elena said. "We know that Tyler's not an actual werewolf, since he doesn't change at the full moon, but it could be a genetic thing that has to be triggered somehow."

"You want me to try to find out if Tyler knows anything?" Jeremy suggested, but Elena shook her head.

"No. It's not a problem right now, so let's just leave it alone. I don't want you to get too involved with him if it turns out that the legend is right." The last thing she wanted was to put Jeremy in harm's way if Tyler _was _a werewolf.

* * *

As soon as Elena got to school on Monday, both Bonnie and Caroline wanted to know what was up with Damon.

"I mean, _seriously_ bad behavior to pull out of the dance at the last minute like that," Caroline complained. "And to make you stay home too. I wanted you to be there for when I was crowned Homecoming Queen."

"He got sick, Caroline," Elena tried to reason. "It's not like it was his fault. And he didn't _make_ me do anything, I didn't want him to have to be alone all night when he wasn't feeling well."

"I'm not even sure I believe this whole flu thing," Caroline went on. "Maybe you just blew off the dance for some romantic getaway."

Elena rolled her eyes. "I can assure you that we didn't leave the boarding house all night, or yesterday for that matter."

"OK, a romantic getaway at home, then."

"Yes, because the flu is so very romantic," Elena replied sarcastically.

"Give it a rest, Care," Matt said. "We're going to be late for class."

"OK fine, but I want all the details at lunch," Caroline told Elena with a pointed look. "If I don't get to have my best friend at my coronation, I at least want to hear all about the sexcapades that kept her away."

Matt pulled Caroline along down the hall, and she followed him reluctantly.

"There are no details!" Elena called after them, but Caroline only waved off her protest.

"So, what really happened?" Bonnie asked as they made their way down the hallway in the opposite direction of where Matt and Caroline had gone.

"The woman at Duke apparently knew all about Damon, and she shot him with a vervain dart," Elena replied, lowering her voice so the students surrounding them wouldn't hear.

"Ouch. Did they find anything?"

They were at their classroom by now, and Elena nodded. "I'll tell you about it at lunch. Maybe you can hide out in the bathroom with me, I'm not in the mood for Caroline's third degree."

"So, seriously, _nothing_ happened?"

Elena just gave her friend a look and led the way to a couple of desks at the back of the room.

"Come on, you can tell me," Bonnie insisted. "Vervain poisoning aside, you were alone in that big, empty house _all_ night Saturday …" She trailed off, letting the sentence linger in the air.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Seriously, _nothing_ _happened_. Just let it go."

* * *

Elena had planned on going over to the boarding house to check up on Damon after school, but when she got into her car, her phone chirped.

_Climbing the walls here, have to get out of the house. Your place in fifteen?_

_D_

Glad that he was apparently feeling better, Elena sent a text back to let him know that that was fine and headed home instead.

Damon was already there when she got to the house.

"Question," he started when she got out of the car. "Sunday. What're you doing?"

She eyed him suspiciously before walking past him to get to the front door. "Why?"

"Oh, come on, Dorothy. I'm not the Wicked Witch of the West trying to lure you off the Yellow Brick Road. Live a little."

Elena rolled her eyes as she opened the door. "Fine. I _thought_ we were going to study for my math test next Wednesday."

"Damn." He followed her into the house. "I'd forgotten about that. But if we get an early start, we should be able to take a day off."

"OK. What did you have in mind?"

He pulled something from his back pocket and held it out to her.

"Concert tickets?" she asked, taking them. "To … Lifehouse in New York? _Seriously_?"

He smiled. "You'll have to clear it with Jenna, of course. Unless you want me to do that _for_ you?"

She raised her eyebrows at that. "Do I want you to mess with her head so she'll let me go? No, thanks, I'll handle it the old fashioned way."

"Have it your way." He shrugged, glancing at the front door. "Might as well get it over with. She's home."

Sure enough, a moment later the door opened and Jenna came into the house. "Did you just get home?" she asked when she saw them in the hallway. "And I'm glad you're feeling better, Damon."

"Thanks, Jenna, I think it was just some kind of twenty-four hour bug," he told her.

"Great." She shrugged out of her coat and hung it up before continuing into the living room. Damon gave Elena a pointed look and she nodded, following her aunt.

"There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about, Aunt Jenna," she said.

Jenna sat down on the couch. "OK, shoot."

"Well, Damon got these really amazing tickets to a concert with Lifehouse in New York on Sunday," Elena started. "And I know it's a school night, and I'll probably miss the entire day since it's an eight hour drive, but I love their music and I _really_ want to go. And it's not like I've missed a single class this semester, or the last for that matter, and I'll get Bonnie and Caroline to take notes for me and I'll bring my books to read up on the stuff I'll miss on the drive and I promise …"

"OK, OK, relax!" Jenna interrupted her, smiling. "You don't need to tell me what a model student you are, especially lately with Damon's study help. As long as you know that this is an exception, you can go."

"Really?" Elena's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much!"

* * *

Damon was just about to leave later that night, having finished helping Elena with both math and history, when Jenna called his name from the living room.

"Yeah?" He went into the room to see what she wanted.

"Can I talk to you about this weekend?" Jenna asked.

Damon sighed. "Look, if you want, we'll head back right away after the concert." They had decided to stay at a hotel in the city and drive back on Monday morning, since the concert probably wouldn't be over until close to midnight, but if Jenna was more comfortable with this idea, it was fine with him. Even if he had been looking forward to spending the night at a hotel with Elena, get a few stolen moments of being close to her … "I'll drive so Elena can sleep in the car and get back in time for first period."

"No, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Jenna replied. "In fact, I don't want you to drive back in the middle of the night, it's like asking for an accident to happen. What I wanted to say was that Elena's never been to New York before."

"OK …" Damon hesitated, not sure where Jenna was going with this.

"And I thought it might be nice for her if you drove up there on Saturday so you could have some time to see the sights before the concert on Sunday," Jenna continued.

Damon wasn't sure he had heard her right. She actually _wanted_ him to take her niece to New York and stay away, not one, but _two_ nights? Something about that felt wrong. But, of course, she hadn't had a problem with their road trip during the summer …

"Look, Damon, I've been seventeen." Jenna smiled. "I know that you two're going to do what you want to do, and there's nothing I can say or do about it. Elena keeps insisting that there's nothing going on between you, and maybe there isn't, but if that's true, it's only a matter of time. And I want her to be happy. So as long as you can promise me that you won't intentionally do anything to hurt her, I'm fine with it. Elena's a responsible girl, and, frankly, I'm more worried about Jeremy sneaking Anna into his room every weekend for the past couple of months."

Damon didn't know what to say. Was Jenna telling him Elena had feelings for him? Could that be true? He had been so convinced that, even if she seemed to be moving on and getting over Stefan, she wouldn't be interested in him. Trying to let go of that conviction, he went through the past couple of weeks in his mind. The way she had told him she trusted him when he had more or less pointed out that he could make her do anything he wanted if she wasn't wearing her vervain necklace. The fact that she had asked him to go with her to the Homecoming Dance and had seemed disappointed when he hadn't immediately agreed to go. How she had rushed over when she had found out about that damn Vanessa shooting him with that vervain dart and refused to leave until he was feeling better.

If he was going with the notion that she could have feelings for him, those incidents would definitely confirm it.

The only reason he hadn't tried to make a move so far had been that he was afraid she'd think they couldn't be friends anymore if she knew how he felt about her. Now … well, the New York weekend suddenly held a _lot_ more potential …

* * *

Elena was amazed that Jenna had not only agreed to let her miss an entire day of school to go to the concert in New York with Damon, but leave a day early to see the city.

"You're _sure_ you didn't have anything to do with it?" she asked Damon on Tuesday when he was helping her study for her math test. If they were going to be taking most of the weekend off, she needed to get some work done before that.

He shook his head disappointedly. "I wasn't even in the room when you asked her, but it's nice to know that you have _so_ much faith in me," he said sarcastically.

"I do, really," she assured him. "It's just, I was expecting her to say no, at least at first, and to have to beg and bargain to get to go."

"What can I say, she must have thought you deserved a treat for being such a good girl."

"I'm not a dog," she pointed out, glaring at him.

"Can you just let it go and be happy she's not putting up a fight?" he asked exasperatedly. "Any normal teenager would be thrilled, but not you, _you_ have to look for something negative."

"OK, letting it go." Elena nodded. "I can't believe I'm going to New York!"

"_I_ can't believe you've never been there before," he countered.

"Just because you've been _everywhere_."

"You should be happy I have; it means I can show you all the secrets of the city." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

"Why do I get the feeling that would involve something like a strip club?" she asked warily, and he laughed.

"You really think I would take you to a _strip club_?"

"I don't know, would you?" she challenged.

He gave her a long look. "Trust me, when I'm with you, I have absolutely _no_ desire to visit any kind of strip club."

Elena blushed and looked away from him. This weekend was going to be interesting …

* * *

True to her word, Elena brought homework and notes on the drive on Saturday. She felt like she was on top of the situation when it came to the math test that was coming up, but she still went through her notes and parts of the book. When she had finished that, she continued with the chapter in her history book Alaric had said that they were going to cover in the class she would miss on Monday. Bonnie had promised to take notes for her, but she still wanted to be prepared.

"Are you going to have your nose in a book the entire weekend?" Damon asked a little sulkily when they stopped for lunch just outside Baltimore.

"Sorry," Elena said, putting the book away. "I know I'm the worst company ever, but I promised Jenna I'd study."

"And you have," he pointed out. "Enough for the rest of the weekend, _I_ think."

She laughed. "Nice try. But I only have one chapter for social studies and one for Spanish left, and I guess I'll have time to read them on the way back, so I _will_ stop for now."

They got to New York at five in the afternoon, and Damon quickly found the way to the hotel they were staying at. When he pulled up in front of the entrance, Elena stared up at the building.

"We're staying _here_?" she asked incredulously.

Damon smiled to himself. That was the reaction he'd been going for when he had made a reservation at the Four Seasons.

Elena watched everything with wide eyes; the valet that was waiting to take their car to the garage, the bellboy that got their bags out of the trunk, the way the receptionist was sucking up to Damon when they checked in.

"This must have cost a _fortune_," she pointed out when they were riding up in the elevator. "You didn't have to do this, we could have just stayed at a normal hotel."

"I wanted this weekend to be perfect," he replied, his eyes meeting hers.

The look he was giving her made Elena swallow hard, and, for a moment, she was convinced that he was going to kiss her. But then the elevator doors opened with a 'ding' and he pulled her along towards their room. Or, more accurately, _suite_.

"Wow," Elena mumbled, turning in a circle to take everything in. The living area alone was twice as large as their living room at home.

"The penthouse suite was booked," Damon said, shrugging. Elena gave him an odd look and he smiled. "That was a joke."

"Good." She let out a relieved breath. "Because this is enough. More than enough, actually. It's amazing."

"Do you want to change before we go out?" he asked, going into the bedroom where the bellboy had left their bags.

"Where are we going?" she wondered, following him.

"Dinner and then this amazing little jazz bar I found when I was here fifteen years ago," he told her. "Even if you hate jazz, you're going to love this place."

"OK, give me fifteen minutes." She grabbed her toilet bag and disappeared into the bathroom.

* * *

It was after two in the morning when they finally got back to the hotel, and Damon almost had to carry Elena, who had practically fallen asleep in the cab on the way from the bar.

"OK, down you go." He deposited her on the bed. "Would you like me to take your clothes off?"

She forced her eyes opened to look at him. "I think I can handle it, thanks." She undid the button in her jeans and pulled the zipper down, too tired to even be embarrassed by the fact that he was watching her as she shimmied out of them. Deciding to just sleep in the t-shirt she was wearing, she managed to get her bra off and threw it in the general direction of her bag.

Damon pulled the covers down on the side of the bed Elena wasn't occupying. "Move over," he told her, and she scooted over on the bed until she could pull the covers up over herself.

Her little show with the jeans and bra had him sorely tempted to get into the bed with her and take off the rest of her clothes, along with his own, but she was already asleep, and he wanted her fully conscious for that.

So, instead, he went into the bathroom and took a cold shower before crawling into bed. Feeling daring, he moved until he was right behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. Sighing, she turned in his embrace and snuggled closer to him.

* * *

They spent Sunday as tourists. Or at least Elena did; Damon was more like her guide, since he knew everything about the city and the sights they saw – the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square, Ground Zero.

The concert was amazing. They had to wait in line for over an hour since Elena wouldn't let Damon get them past the other people waiting to get in, the place was crowded and the band didn't start playing until ten, but it was still one of the best experiences of Elena's life. When she heard the first beats of _Everything_, her favorite song, she almost got tears in her eyes.

"Did you have fun?" Damon asked when they were in a cab on their way back to the hotel, and she nodded vigorously.

"I haven't been to a lot of concerts, and none as big as this one, and it was _amazing_," she replied in an awed voice.

"I could have gotten us backstage if you wanted," he pointed out. "Met the band."

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm not one of those screaming girls in front of the stage, dying to touch their favorite pop star," she told him. "I love them, but just hearing the music live is enough."

That was pretty much what he had thought and the reason he hadn't suggested it before they left.

Elena still felt hyped up when they got back to the hotel, despite the fact that it was after midnight.

"I've gotta get out of these shoes, they're killing me," she complained. They had been on their feet since ten A.M., and it felt like every inch of her feet were covered with blisters.

She went into the bedroom where she kicked the shoes off before continuing into the bathroom where she splashed some water on her face. The reflection that met her in the mirror had bright eyes and red cheeks, and she smiled at herself.

As she left the bathroom, she heard music coming from the main living area and frowned. Had Damon turned the radio on?

He was standing at the entertainment center they hadn't really used, and as she recognized the song, she realized that he must have plugged his iPod into the speakers.

_Find me here  
And speak to me  
I want to feel you  
I need to hear you  
You are the light  
That's leading me  
To the place  
Where I find peace  
Again _

He turned around and took a step towards her, holding his hand out. "May I have this dance?"

She smiled and nodded, closing the distance between them.

Like they'd been doing it forever, his arms found their place around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck, leaning her head against his shoulder. _This is right_, a little voice inside her whispered, and she sighed. It was.

A_nd how can I stand here with you  
And not be moved by you  
Would you tell me how could it be  
Any better than this_

She pulled away from him, looking up into his eyes.

C_ause you're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything, you're everything  
You're all I want  
You're all I need  
You're everything, you're everything_

Slowly, as if wanting to give her the chance to stop him if she wanted to, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

* * *

**AN: I know, I know, I'm evil … Show of hands if you want me to pick up where I left off! **


	15. Chapter fourteen

**AN: Wow, the response on the last chapter was overwhelming – 29 reviews! Maybe I should do cliffhangers more often? Sorry, sorry, just kidding (ducking to avoid any heavy objects you might be throwing at me). Seriously, though, thank you to everyone who reviewed. Every time I read one of your comments, even if it's just something short like 'good' it puts a smile on my face. And, because I got all the amazing feedback, I am updating a day early! And picking up where I left off … enjoy! Oh, and I almost forgot: sunshine2006578, the greatest beta, thank you! **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter fourteen**

For a moment, Elena was frozen, her lips unmoving against his, and Damon wondered if he had been completely off. But then she kissed him back, her arms tightening to pull him closer, and he felt a sense of relief wash through him.

He didn't want to rush anything, didn't want to move too fast – even if all he really wanted to do was pick her up, take the few steps necessary to get into the bedroom and then not let her go for the rest of the night – so he tried to control the desire he had been repressing for so long but that was now coursing through his entire body. His normally heightened senses seemed to be on overload, all he could feel, taste, smell, hear was her; the way the fabric of her top felt against his hand where it was resting on the small of her back, the way her lips tasted – like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he had experienced a _lot_ – the way her perfume wrapped all around him, pulling him into her own personal bubble, the small sounds of pleasure that escaped her lips and her accelerated heart beat. Everything else had drifted away.

But then she loosened her grip around his neck and slid one hand along his shoulder until she found the top button in his shirt, her fingers working to undo it, and all the self control he had managed to display up until then went out the window. He wanted her, _needed_ her, now.

Not wanting to break the kiss, he walked her backwards through the room until her back hit the wall by the bedroom door. She pulled away from him then, breathing heavily, and he remembered that she, unlike him, actually needed the oxygen. Too impatient to wait for her to catch her breath, he kissed her jaw line, her neck, her collar bone, before working his way back up her throat and reclaiming her lips.

At first, Elena couldn't quite take in what was going on. It had been a long day, and it took her a moment to realize that this was actually happening, that Damon really was kissing her. Then she gave into the craving that had been building inside her for what felt like months, the need for him that she had been trying so hard _not_ to give into, and let her instincts take over. She wanted to be closer to him, wanted every inch of his skin against every inch of hers. Continuing her work on his shirt, she tugged at the next button, and the next, and the next, her other arm still wrapped around his neck to hold him in place. In response, he let one hand trail down her back, finding the space between the top of her jeans and the bottom of her t-shirt and grazing her skin with his fingertips. It felt like an electric current passed between them, and she gasped.

Somehow, she managed to get all the buttons in his shirt undone, but, to her disappointment, he had a t-shirt on underneath. Eagerly, she tugged at the fabric, but he pulled her hand away.

"Impatient." His mouth was right at her ear, his breath sending shivers down her spine, his voice a little husky. "Why don't we just …" he pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin below her ear, "… take our time?"

Her head fell back against the wall, giving him easier access to her throat, and he took full advantage of it. As he kissed the spot on her neck where the pulse of her blood was strongest, his other hand slipped underneath her top as well. Her skin beneath his hands was soft, warm. He wanted to tear her shirt in two, expose her bare skin to his touch, but he didn't think she'd appreciate that. Reluctantly pulling away from her, he tugged the top over her head instead. She raised her arms, letting him pull the shirt all the way off, and when he had thrown it to the side, he held her hands in place with one of his, kissing his way down her left arm to her shoulder and back to her lips.

It was her turn to work on his clothes, and she got his shirt the rest of the way off without a problem. Then she finally got the t-shirt out of his jeans and her hands slid beneath it, exploring his stomach and then travelling up his back. Everywhere she touched him, his skin felt like it was on fire.

She tugged his shirt up and, releasing her mouth for a moment, he let her pull it off. When his lips found hers again, he slid his hands down her back and lifted her up. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist and he pushed her against the wall. Their bodies were pressed hard together, and he pulled his lips from hers so he could look at her. Their breathing was almost synchronized, despite him not actually needing to breathe, and he liked that thought.

"Do you have any idea how much I want you?" he mumbled hoarsely, his eyes roaming her face, trying to, without words, tell her everything he felt in that moment.

The desire she could see in his eyes was overwhelming, and, in response, she pulled his lips to hers again, kissing him with everything she had, trying to show him that she felt the exact same way. His left hand travelled up her side, grazing her breast through the fabric of her bra, and she moaned into his mouth. Encouraged by this, he reached behind her with his other hand and unhooked her bra, and she disentangled her arms from around his neck to get it all the way off. Now, they were both naked from the waist up, but it still wasn't enough.

She pulled away from him long enough to breathlessly say, "Bedroom." He quickly carried her into the room and, in a somewhat controlled manner, let them fall onto the bed, his body covering hers.

She immediately began working on the button in his jeans, but he grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head. He pulled away to see her reaction, and the only thing he found in her eyes was desire that he knew was mirrored in his own. He kissed her lightly once.

"Patience," he told her.

With that, he started moving down her body, kissing, licking and nipping at every part of her he could reach, every inch of her exposed skin, until she was writhing in pleasure beneath him. Only then did he release her hands and kiss her lips again while unbuttoning her jeans and pulling the zipper down. Eagerly, she lifted her hips to let him pull them off, and he deposited them on the floor next to the bed.

She pushed against his chest, and he let her roll them around so she was on top.

"Your turn," she murmured, returning his efforts in kind and trailing kisses down his chest, stomach, lower … he hissed when her hand closed around him through the fabric of his jeans and, with vampire speed, flipped them around again.

"Need you," he all but growled, tearing her underwear off as she finally got the button in his jeans undone. Impatiently, he pulled them off, and then, finally, she was right there underneath him, ready, willing.

He paused for an endless moment, hovering above her. He could feel her heat and wetness, and wanted to bury himself in her, drown in her, never resurface. Her eyes were dark with desire, her lips swollen from their kisses, her heart beating a mile a minute and her breath coming in shallow and rapid gasps. Reaching out with one hand, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then let his fingertips slide down the side of her face, her throat, shoulder, side, waist, to her thigh, where he bent her leg at the knee, opening her up even more to him. Then, eyes never leaving hers, he slowly, so slowly, pushed into her.

When he was completely enveloped in her heat, he leaned his forehead against hers, breathing deeply. He had been dreaming – literally – about this for so long, it was surreal to finally be there, with her, inside her. He wanted to remember this moment for the rest of eternity.

As he stayed still inside her, Elena's breathing gradually became deeper and slower. After a moment, she reached up to kiss him, her hand tangling in his hair to pull him closer, at the same time as she lifted her hips a little, and he groaned.

"You have no idea what you do to me," he whispered against her lips, pulling out of her only to slide back in, and felt her smile.

"I think I have a pretty good idea."

They started out slowly, but soon the pent-up desire and sexual frustration they had both been carrying around for weeks, maybe months, urged them to go faster and faster, spiraling towards the sweet release. Damon wanted it to last forever, but when he felt Elena tighten around him, he let go and followed her over the edge. They would have plenty of time for slow, leisurely lovemaking if he had anything to say about it.

They fell asleep soon after, limbs still entangled.

* * *

Damon woke up first the next morning, and, for a moment, he was convinced that last night had been a dream. It had to have been. But Elena was still there, in the bed next to him, lying on her stomach. The covers had slipped down and her naked back was bathed in the sunlight that streamed in through the window, her hair was a mess and there was a smile on her face, even as she slept.

Content to just watch her for a moment, he did exactly that, head propped up in one hand. He could hear when she started to wake up, her breathing losing that even rhythm that was typical for people who were sleeping deeply, and a moment later, she slid one hand across the sheet, as if looking for something. A frown appeared on her face when she didn't find what she was searching for, and he entwined his fingers with hers.

"Mmm," she mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Good morning." He moved closer to her, whispering in her ear and then kissing her shoulder.

She opened her eyes. "Good morning." She pulled the covers up and turned onto her back. He gave her a disappointed look, and she laughed. "What time is it?"

He glanced over his shoulder at the clock on the bedside table. "Almost ten."

"And when do we have to leave?" As she spoke, she tugged him down on top of her.

"Technically …" he started, but she interrupted him.

"Let me rephrase that: when do we have to leave to get back to Mystic Falls before Jenna sends the National Guard after us?"

"Well, when you put it that way …" He kissed her ear before letting his teeth graze her earlobe, eliciting a gasp from her. "Around noon."

"So that would mean we still have two hours to … fill?" she concluded, wrapping a leg around his waist to pull him even closer to her.

"That would be correct."

In the end, they had about ten minutes to pack and get dressed before leaving the hotel a few minutes after noon.

Damon didn't want to leave the city. He was worried that maybe, when they got back to Mystic Falls, Elena would want to keep the new nature of their relationship a secret, that she would be worried about what her friends and family might think. He, on the other hand, wanted everyone to know that she was with _him_ and nobody else. Maybe that was medieval or chauvinistic or whatever, but he didn't care.

The way she leaned against him, her head on his shoulder, made him hope that maybe he was wrong. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer.

"I should call Jenna, let her know that we got a late start," she said when the New York City skyline started disappearing behind them.

"Or you could wait a little longer," he suggested. "That way we won't have to go straight back, we could take a little … detour."

She laughed, pulling her cell from her pocket. "Nice try. We're _not_ having sex in some restroom at a truck stop, if that's what you had in mind."

"Oh, come on. I have a _little_ more class than that!" he objected.

"Some sleazy motel along the highway, then. The answer is still no."

He put on a frown. "Well, _you're_ no fun."

"I thought I was a lot of fun," she pointed out, turning to place a kiss on his neck. "At least it seemed that way last night … and this morning."

He drew in a sharp breath when her lips trailed down his throat. "You _might_ not want to do that while I'm driving," he told her, voice a little constricted.

She laughed and pulled away, too far, slipping out of his embrace, and put her phone to her ear.

Jeremy picked up the phone at the house after a couple of rings. _"Hello?"_

"Jeremy, hey."

"_Oh, hi. How was the concert last night?"_ he asked.

The concert … right, Lifehouse, last night. The whole reason they had gone to New York to begin with. "It was great," she told him. "Listen, is Jenna there?"

"_No, not right now, she went out, I don't know where. But she said that she'd be back soon, do you want me to ask her to call you?"_

"No, that's OK," Elena assured him. "Do you mind letting her know that we just left New York? So we probably won't be back until nine or something tonight."

"_Yeah, no problem,"_ he replied. _"I hope you took a lot of pictures of the sights yesterday. I've never been to New York either, you know."_

"I took a ton, we'll do a virtual sightseeing when I get back, OK?"

"_Sounds good. See you soon."_

"Bye Jere." She hung up the phone and reclaimed her earlier position, head against Damon's shoulder. "Can we stop for lunch soon? I'm starving."

Since they had been busy with … other activities, they hadn't had breakfast before leaving the hotel, and Elena felt her stomach start complaining.

"Sure," he readily agreed. "What're you in the mood for?"

She thought for a moment. "Pancakes, maybe? I love the pancakes you get when you have breakfast at a hotel, and since I didn't get any this morning …"

"I thought you got _plenty_ this morning," he cut her off, his tone of voice making perfectly clear what he was referring to.

She blushed a little at the memory. "Let me rephrase that: since I didn't get any _pancakes_ this morning, I want some now."

"I think we can arrange that. As long as _I_ get some, too."

Elena laughed. "OK, enough with the double entendres," she said. "And _you_ are not getting _anything_ until we get home."

"Is that another way of asking me to spend the night?" he asked in a suggestive voice, and she felt her stomach do a flip.

"As long as you're fine with climbing in through my window, so Jenna won't have a fit, and being _really_ quiet," she qualified.

He let the hand that was resting against her shoulder travel up and trailed one finger along her collar bone, feeling her shiver under his touch. "I don't think _I'll _be the one who'll have trouble being quiet."

Swallowing hard, Elena tried to shake off the intense and sudden flash of desire his words and touch sent through her entire body. Not the time.

"You must be hungry, too," she said to take her mind off what exactly would happen if she asked him to take the next exit and find the nearest motel …

"I'm good," he replied, but a little too quickly.

She knew that the cooler with blood was in the backseat, but hadn't seen him 'eat' all weekend. "I don't want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me," she told him. It might freak her out a little to watch him drink from the blood bags, but she was willing to try to get used to it.

He was quiet for a moment, as if wanting to give her the opportunity to take it back. "OK, after you have _your_ lunch, you can drive for a while and I'll have _mine_," he then said, squeezing her shoulder in what she imagined was a grateful way.

A few exits later, they found an IHOP and Elena ordered chocolate chip pancakes, strawberry banana pancakes and double blueberry pancakes. When the waitress had left with her order, Damon gave her a weird look.

"What?" she asked, getting defensive. "I'm hungry! I haven't had anything to eat since last night!"

"I know," he assured her, smiling. He was just glad to be reminded of the fact that she wasn't one of those girls who constantly worried about their weight, counting each calorie before they ate something. If she wanted pancakes, she was going to get pancakes.

In the end, though, she couldn't finish everything. "I'm so full I'm not sure I'll be able to move," she complained, leaning back in the booth and letting out a deep breath.

"You're the one who ordered all the pancakes," he pointed out, stealing her fork and popping the last piece of blueberry pancake into his mouth. "These are good."

"Help yourself." She pushed the plate, where there was still half a strawberry banana pancake and a whole chocolate chip pancake, across the table, watching him as he finished the food.

When they got back to the car, Elena claimed the driver's seat while Damon got into the passenger seat, reaching into the back for his 'lunch'. He didn't fasten his seatbelt, and she stopped herself from reminding him – it wouldn't actually _hurt_ him much if they crashed, after all. When he had extracted a bag of blood, he turned in his seat to lean against the door. That way, he was able to watch her as she drove.

As he finished the bag, she glanced at him every now and then, but he didn't think she seemed disgusted or anything, more fascinated and curious.

"What tastes better?" she asked when he was done. "Blood or pancakes?"

He didn't laugh at her question like she had thought that he might. Instead, he took it seriously, thinking for a moment before answering. "It's hard to compare," he told her. "It's like me asking you what you like better: your favorite food or chocolate."

"Chocolate," she replied immediately and he rolled his eyes.

"Of course, _you_ would say that. But imagine that you're really hungry, starving. You haven't eaten for days, and someone offers you a chocolate bar or your favorite food. What would you pick?"

She nodded. "I think I get it. Does it taste the same as when you were human?"

"The blood, no." He shook his head. "You know what blood tastes like, right? Coppery, kind of sweet. Not really appetizing. To a vampire, the taste of blood, or the smell of it, for that matter, is like every delicious taste and smell in the entire world."

"And normal food?" She was fascinated by the way he told her about it, like they were discussing something completely normal. And, of course, to him, it was. She had to try to remember that.

"Well, we didn't have pancakes like _that_ when I was human," he joked. "But other than that, I would say that food tastes … maybe not better, but _more_. Our senses are more developed, sight, hearing, even taste, so everything is more intense."

She wondered if the blood he had just consumed made him want more, and, more specifically … hers. She hesitated, but decided to just come out and ask. "When you've just … eaten, does that make you … hungrier? I mean, right now, do you … do you want _my_ blood?"

His mouth turned up in a somewhat … predatory smile. "I _always_ want your blood," he replied in a voice that could only be described as sexy. He leaned closer to her. "I can smell it all the time, see it pulsing beneath your skin …" he reached out and ran one finger down her throat, stopping at the point where the blood flow was strongest, "… I can feel it right here." He removed his finger and kissed the spot, lazily, letting his tongue graze her skin.

Elena could feel her heart rate pick up and knowing that he could hear exactly what kind of effect he was having on her only made her heart beat faster. A part of her was telling the rest of her to be afraid; he was talking about biting her, drinking her blood, after all. But the reason behind her pounding heart wasn't fear at all. It was desire.

When he finally pulled away from her, she almost expected her heart to stop from pure exhaustion.

"But I can control myself," he told her, sounding completely relaxed and more than a little smug. "I won't ever do anything to risk hurting you."

That was comforting. Elena remembered another conversation, months ago, also regarding drinking blood. "You …" she started, but, hearing that her voice was a little shaky, cleared her throat before continuing. "You told me about how closely related blood and sex are for vampires once. I'm guessing what you meant by that is that it's satisfying to bite someone while …"

"During sex, yes," he interrupted her. "It is. For both parties, at least if the vampire in question knows what he or she is doing. A rookie would probably end up killing their partner, but a more experienced vampire wouldn't have a problem with taking just enough to make it enjoyable for the human."

She swallowed, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "Really?" Her voice was full of doubt.

He nodded slowly, that smile still in place. "Maybe I'll show you some day."

She gulped. "I … I don't know."

He laughed quietly. "Don't worry, I won't do anything you don't want me to do."

That was a relief. She found the idea a little … disconcerting. But, as they continued on their way towards Mystic Falls, she couldn't help but think about it.

* * *

It was a little after nine thirty when they pulled onto Elena's street. The lights were on in the living room, and Elena thought she could see a Jenna-shaped shadow through the drapes.

Damon pulled up to the curb outside the house, killing the engine.

"OK, you're going to have to wait until Jenna's asleep before sneaking in," Elena told him firmly. "You can hear that, right? When she's sleeping?"

He nodded reluctantly. "You know, this would be a _lot_ easier if you would just let me tamper a _little_ bit with her mind, make it so that she'd be ecstatic to have me in the house."

"No!" She gave him a stern look.

"Fine," he agreed. "You know, I don't really mind the whole sneaking around thing, but I'm hoping it won't extend to your entire social circle."

"We're not sneaking around," she objected. "I'm going to tell her we're together, I just don't want her to know that you're sleeping in my room. She might be easy going, but even she wouldn't accept that."

"I wasn't planning on sleeping." He wagged his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah." He nodded impatiently. "And what about the rest of the Scooby gang? I'm guessing they're not gonna be exactly thrilled."

She frowned at his question. "Are you asking me if I'm going to lie to Bonnie and Caroline about us?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Sabrina isn't exactly a fan of mine, I just thought that maybe you didn't want to get on her bad side. You two seem to have gotten closer over the summer, why mess that up?"

Elena laughed. "I think you'd be surprised at Bonnie's reaction."

His eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what she meant by that. "Why?"

"She's actually been bugging me for quite some time to do something about our … situation," she told him. "So I'm sure she'll be fine."

That left him speechless for a moment. "OK, we _are_ talking about the same person, right? Dark hair, eyes that would have killed me a _long_ time ago if looks could kill, pissed off because doing the spell to open the tomb with the vampires did her grandmother in?"

"Don't talk about Bonnie's grandma like that," Elena chastised. "And, yes, we're talking about the same person. You haven't noticed that you two have been getting along fine lately? You see, as long as you don't try to kill someone, they might end up actually thinking you're a decent person. "

"Huh." He contemplated that for a moment. "I _knew_ there was a reason I wanted to kill her in the first place."

Elena punched him in the shoulder. "Stop it!"

"I was just kidding."

"I know that. But you still shouldn't go around talking about killing people. And especially not my friends."

"Fine," he replied, sounding like it was a big sacrifice on his part.

She glanced at her watch. "I've gotta go before Jenna starts wondering where I am."

"OK." But instead of letting her go, he pulled her to him, kissing her intensely for a few minutes. When he finally released her, her knees were weak. "That'll tie me over 'till I see you later," he said with a smile, waving her out of the car.

Jenna looked up when the front door opened and closed, a smile spreading on her face when Elena came into the living room.

"Welcome back. How was the big city?"

Elena slumped down next to her aunt on the couch. "Big."

Jenna regarded her for a moment. "Must have been some concert last night, to put a smile like that on your face," she then said in a tone that told Elena that her aunt had a pretty good idea what was really behind her smile, and she looked down at her hands. "That's what I thought."

Elena was saved from answering by Jeremy coming down the stairs.

"I thought I heard you." He plopped down in an armchair. "Did you get me a souvenir?"

"I did," Elena told him with a smile, going into the hallway and returning a moment later. "Here you go." She dropped a piece of fabric in Jeremy's lap.

"A 'My sister went to New York and all I got was this lousy t-shirt' t-shirt?" he asked incredulously, holding it up.

"I got you one too, Aunt Jenna," Elena said, handing a similar t-shirt, only with the word 'niece' instead of 'sister' on it, to Jenna.

"Thanks, sweetie, it was nice of you to think about us," Jenna replied, giving Jeremy a pointed look.

"Yeah, thanks, sis," he piped in, not sounding too convincing.

Elena laughed. "I also got you these." She handed Jenna a snow globe with the New York City skyline and Jeremy a sweatshirt with the New York Yankees logo on the front.

"That's more like it!" Jeremy pulled the sweatshirt over his head. "And don't forget the pictures!"

Obediently, Elena got her camera out of her bag and hooked it up to the television, telling Jeremy and Jenna all about the sights in the photos as they appeared on the screen. When the slide started over, she pretended to yawn and turned the TV off.

"I think I'm gonna head to bed if that's OK," she said. "It's surprisingly tiring to spend an entire day in a car."

"Right, _that's_ why you're tired," Jeremy mumbled under his breath, low enough that Jenna didn't hear. Elena gave him a questioning look, but he just raised his eyebrows at her, challenging her to argue.

"You do that, sweetie," Jenna told her. "I'm going to turn in soon, too."

"OK, night guys."

Elena left the living room and climbed the stairs. When she had gotten ready for bed, she opened the window a little so Damon would be able to get in later. Then she crawled into bed, pulling the cover up to her chin against the chilly air coming in through the window, and opened the social studies book she had planned on reading during the drive earlier, but somehow hadn't even taken out of her bag. She was intent on reading until Jenna fell asleep and Damon got there but, after only a couple of pages, her eyelids drooped and the book slid from her hands.

* * *

Damon was a little disappointed to find Elena asleep when he climbed through her window. An open book was lying next to her indicating that she had been reading when she fell asleep. He considered waking her up for a split second, but her relaxed, sleeping features talked him out of it. Instead, he carefully removed the book and put it on the desk, closed the window and, after pulling off his jeans, slipped into bed behind her, putting an arm around her and burying his face in her hair.

There were pleasures in _actually_ sleeping together as well.

* * *

**AN: OK, so this was my first Delena sex scene, how did I do? As always, please take a few seconds to let me know what you thought … **


	16. Chapter fifteen

**AN: OK, so they're finally together. But will Elena tell her friends and family? And how will they react? Only one way to find out … Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you guys make my day. Keep up the reviewing, and I'll keep up the writing ****–**** 186 reviews right now, let's go for 200! And lots of hugs to sunshine2006578, my wonderful beta!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter fifteen**

Damon turned Elena's alarm clock off a few minutes before it was set to go off the next morning, waking her up with a "Good morning" whispered in her ear.

She slowly opened her eyes, smiling when she saw him. "You make a nice alarm clock," she told him, voice still a little rough from sleep. "Can I get a wake-up call like that every morning?"

"Whenever you want," he replied, capturing her lips in a lazy morning kiss.

"And it just gets better and better," she said, pulling back from him.

"And we're just getting started," he mumbled, leaning in for another kiss.

She kissed him back eagerly for a few minutes, but then pulled away again. "It's not that I wouldn't love to stay here all day, but I have to get up." She sat up, stretching, and made to get out of bed.

"No, no, no, you don't," he argued, pulling her down on top of him, one hand finding its way under her tank top. "Stay here. I'll make it worth it."

But she just laughed and slipped out of his embrace. "As tempting as that sounds, I have school."

He sighed disappointedly, sitting up in the bed. "You're right, you should go. School is important."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that some sort of reversed psychology? Because it's not gonna work."

He shrugged, giving her a crooked smile. "Worth a try."

She laughed, but quickly stopped, glancing at the door to the hallway. "Jenna doesn't usually come in here in the morning," she said, lowering her voice a little. "But you might still want to get going, you never know."

He reluctantly reached for his jeans on the floor next to the bed and pulled them on. "We're going to have to do something about the whole sneaking in through your window thing," he complained, standing up. "It's not good for my image."

"And what image is that?" she asked, taking a step closer and looking up at him. "The bad boy? The ladies' man?"

She took another step closer, and he suddenly found it very difficult to think of something to say. When she reached up and pressed her lips to his, he thought, _to hell with it_, and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. But, again, she pulled away.

The disappointed look on his face made her laugh again. "Go, I have to get ready and you're distracting me."

"I don't have a problem with that," he replied, closing in on her again. But she quickly put the bed between them and gave him a stern look.

"I'm serious. If you make me late for school, I'll lock my window tonight."

That wouldn't actually stop him if he wanted to get into the house, but he chose not to point that out. "Fine," he surrendered. "I'll even drive you to school. Will forty-five minutes be enough for you to get ready?"

She glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table and nodded. "Sure. See you in a little while." And, without further ado, she disappeared into the bathroom.

Damon shook his head at the closed door before he slipped out through the window. It was still dark out, so he didn't much worry about getting spotted. He didn't hurry as he walked the block and a half to where his car was parked; he'd have plenty of time to get back to the boarding house, shower, change and head back to pick her up.

* * *

Elena rushed a little through her morning routine, taking a quick shower before getting dressed and blow-drying her hair. When she got down into the kitchen, Jenna was just taking two slices of toast out of the toaster.

"Good morning," her aunt greeted her with a smile. "Sleep well?"

Elena nodded, avoiding meeting Jenna's eyes out of fear that her aunt would see the twinge of guilt in hers. "I did. Where's Jeremy?"

"He took off about five minutes ago," Jenna told her. "Said something about meeting Anna before first period. It seems like they're always together these days."

Elena frowned. Over the summer, she had gotten to know Anna better, and she honestly liked the girl. She was funny and sweet, but not someone you could push around, which Jeremy had found out the hard way a couple of times. She had been a good influence on her brother, Elena knew that. But still … and maybe that made her a hypocrite – OK, it _definitely _made her a hypocrite – but she wasn't completely thrilled at the idea of Anna and Jeremy being together.

"Hey? Where'd you go?"

Jenna's voice brought her back to the present. "Sorry, I just got a little distracted."

"And would that distraction have anything to do with a person that shall remain anonymous but whose name starts with a D and ends with amon?" Jenna asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Elena turned her back on Jenna as she answered, taking a bowl from one of the cupboards and a box of cereal from another. "Maybe."

"Oh, come on, Elena, I wasn't born yesterday! I'm not saying I want details – please spare me those! – but you can talk to me about this."

Elena contemplated this for a moment as she poured milk over her cereal. "OK, so, yeah, things … changed between us this weekend," she then admitted, sitting down next to Jenna at the table.

"I've been waiting for this to happen," Jenna told her. "It's been so obvious that there's more between you than just friendship, but I wasn't sure you would want to talk about it, so I didn't say anything."

Elena nodded, not even trying to deny it. "It was just, with everything with Stefan and all that, I didn't want to jump into this too soon, you know? I didn't want him to think that I was just waiting for him to get out of the picture before I got involved with his brother." The truth was, she was still a little worried that Stefan might think that … if he ever bothered to come back to Mystic Falls, which she was actually beginning to doubt.

"As long as _you're_ happy, I say to hell with what everyone else thinks."

Elena paused, spoon halfway to her mouth, and gave Jenna a look. "Aunt Jenna, language!" she said, trying to sound outraged. "You're not being a very good role model, you know. Kids do what you do, not what you say. Or, in this case, they say what you say and not what you tell them to say … that got a little complicated."

"Yeah, yeah." Jenna got up from the table. "I think I messed up my shot at being a good role model way back. I've gotta get going now, but I'm glad you finally dealt with your feelings, OK?"

Elena smiled. "Yeah, me too."

Jenna left and Elena finished her breakfast before going back up to her room to brush her teeth and get her book bag. She was on her way back down the stairs when there was a knock on the door.

"May I escort m'lady to her carriage?" Damon asked, holding out one arm, when she opened the door. Elena laughed.

"Most certainly," she replied, putting on her coat before linking her arm with his and letting him lead her down the path to the driveway, where his car was parked. He opened the passenger door for her, waiting until she had fastened the seatbelt before he walked around the car and got into the driver's seat.

"And you're _absolutely_ sure that you have to go to school?" he asked when he pulled out into the street. "I mean, I know it's mandatory and all that, but, come on, _one_ day won't make much difference."

"I already missed one day yesterday," she pointed out. "And are you really trying to say that if I skip school today and, I don't know … stay in bed with you all day, you'd actually be fine with me going to school tomorrow?"

He thought about that for a moment. "OK, I get your point. It sucks that I can't pose as a high school student and tag along to your classes all day."

She laughed. "Yes, because that wouldn't be at _all_ distracting."

"I don't suppose there are any open faculty positions at the moment?" he mused out loud.

Elena had to admit that he _was_ an amazing tutor – she never would have done as well on her finals last semester if he hadn't helped her study – but a teacher … she couldn't quite picture it.

"If you want to do some teaching, I still have my math test tomorrow," she reminded him. "We're going to have to go through that this afternoon. I mean, I think I've got most of it under control, but I still want to make sure."

"And here I was thinking more along the lines of you, me, and a bed all afternoon." He frowned. "That's not gonna work if you're set on studying."

Elena tried to laugh, but it didn't come out quite right. Was that the only thing this was about to him? Sex? Was she just another one on a no doubt very long list of conquests?

Not that the sex hadn't been amazing but, to her, that wasn't all there was to a relationship. If that was even what this thing between them was … they hadn't exactly talked about what the weekend had meant. Maybe, to him, it _was_ just sex? Friends with benefits or something. She didn't want to believe that but, still, she started to wonder a little …

He seemed to be able to guess where her mind was, because he reached out to take one of her hands in his. "Hey, you know this is just me being my usual self, right?" he asked, glancing at her. "I'm not _really_ expecting you to cut class or blow off studying for the test tomorrow, even if I would _love _to spend the whole day with you, and I'm not _really_ this fixated on the more … physical aspects of our relationship. You know that, don't you?"

She nodded, a little relieved. "I know."

"Good." He squeezed her hand. "But I'm not going to stop with the sexual innuendos just because we're actually _having_ sex now, so don't expect me to."

She laughed again, but this time without having to fake it. "I would never expect that," she assured him. "In fact, and I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'd actually miss it if you did."

"I knew the whole scandalized thing was just an act," he said, seeming pleased with himself.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't let it get to your head."

"Not the part I was going to let it get to."

She rolled her eyes at the less-than-subtle hint. Luckily, they were at the school by now and he stopped the car. "Thanks for the ride." She leaned over to give him a quick kiss. "Pick me up after school?"

"Sure," he replied, surprising her by letting her go after only one kiss. When she got out of the car, however, he got out as well.

"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously as she rounded the car. He didn't actually plan on following her around to class all day? That _had_ been a joke?

"Getting a proper goodbye," he told her, pulling her closer and kissing her thoroughly. Since she had a couple of minutes before first bell, Elena let herself go and kissed him back just as eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body against his. It was several minutes before they pulled apart, by which time they were both breathing heavily.

"You done staking your claim now?" she asked with a smile. It hadn't escaped her that most of the students were in the parking lot or on their way into the school. All of the guys in her class would have seen their little impromptu make-out session.

"Yes, thank you," he replied, not even trying to deny his intentions. "Run along now, you don't want to be late."

She laughed, giving him one last, quick kiss before turning her back on him and walking towards the school. She heard the car door slam behind her and then the engine revving.

Bonnie, Caroline and Matt were standing by the entrance, no doubt – at least in Bonnie and Caroline's case – waiting for her to be able to question her about the weekend. Elena's suspicions were confirmed when Bonnie spoke.

"OK, I _was_ going to ask how your weekend was, but after that little show, I don't think I need to."

"Way to go, Elena," Caroline piped in. "I thought you two were never gonna get your heads out of your asses and do something about that."

"Thank you for putting it that way, Caroline," Elena replied sarcastically.

Matt was still looking after Damon's car, which had disappeared down the street by now, a frown on his face. "So, what? You two are a _thing_ now?" he asked in an annoyed voice.

"Matt …" Bonnie started warningly, but he ignored her.

"Come on, Elena. The guy's a player, even _you_ have to see that."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and met Matt's eyes. "He's not. And, anyway, it's not like it's any of _your_ business."

"We're friends, I just don't want you to get hurt," he defended himself. "Don't you remember last spring? He tried to get my _mom_ into bed, for Christ's sake!"

Elena didn't particularly want to think about that. If she was going to start worrying about Damon's past with someone's mother, it would be her own. And she was going to try very hard _not_ to think about that, because it had been years ago and didn't matter. "That was ages ago, and he was drunk."

"Besides, I don't think he had to try very hard," Caroline pointed out in her usual Caroline-y bluntness. "It wouldn't have been more obvious what she was after if she'd been naked with a sign saying 'Horny, middle-aged woman, come and get it' around her neck."

Matt gave Caroline a hurt look. "Nice, Care." He stalked off into the school.

"What?" Caroline asked, looking from Elena to Bonnie. "I was just saying …"

"You can't talk about his mom like that," Elena interrupted her.

"Even if it is true," Bonnie added.

"But she …"

"Just let it go and apologize to him," Bonnie suggested, looping one arm through Caroline's and the other through Elena's and walking into the school.

"Yeah, let's get to class," Elena said, relieved that Matt's little outburst had distracted Bonnie and Caroline from their inevitable questions about the weekend.

"Don't think we've forgotten about _you_," Caroline disappointed her by saying. "We want to hear _all_ the details about your little weekend getaway. If I remember correctly, you'll have a _lot_ of nice stories to tell us."

Elena groaned, but surrendered to the inevitable. They weren't going to let her get out of it.

* * *

Damon went straight from dropping Elena off at the school to a Council meeting. Carol Lockwood had been appointed Mayor for the time being, since nobody had stepped forward to be elected. It wasn't an ideal situation – Carol wasn't nearly as involved with the town's vampire issues as her husband had been – but it was going to have to do for now.

"OK, we might have a problem," Liz started when everyone had gathered. "A random inventory at the hospital in Roanoke yesterday revealed that a lot of blood was missing from the blood bank."

Damon groaned on the inside. He hadn't been in Roanoke for over a month, which meant that it had to be Anna. He was going to have to have a talk with her about being more careful on her blood runs.

"That's almost a hundred miles from here," he pointed out, careful not to sound defensive in any way. "Aren't we picturing the worst case scenario here? I mean, the vampire could have been going in the opposite direction. If that's the case, it could be in West Virginia, or even Kentucky, by now."

He didn't want the red alert back on. It had been a bitch when the Council had given vervain to all the personnel at the nearby hospitals. He had gotten into a nice pattern in the past couple of months and didn't want to have to work out a new routine.

"It's possible, of course," Liz agreed, sounding like she wanted to believe it but couldn't. "But I still think we should be extra careful for a few weeks, keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary."

"Of course," he assured her.

"But there haven't been any attacks since May, have there?" another of the Council members piped in. "After Amber Bradley was killed, and that girl outside Washington, which we don't even know if it was related since the police up there didn't have a clue that what they were looking at was a vampire attack, there hasn't been any sign of vampire activity in the area."

Of course, Damon knew that the two, or, actually, three cases – there had been another attack further north, just outside Wilmington, but Liz and the Council weren't aware of that and he wasn't about to fill them in – were related. He had managed to get the entire story out of Henry during one of their talks; how Stefan had practically stumbled on both girls and hadn't been able to control the thirst.

"No, there hasn't." Liz frowned. "I don't know, I have no idea how these monsters work, but I doubt they're able to keep from hunting for very long. If there really is a vampire in the area, we should know soon enough."

* * *

Elena hurried to her locker after the last bell, trying to avoid Caroline, who hadn't stopped bugging her about her weekend with Damon in New York all day. She quickly gathered her things and slammed the locker shut.

"In a hurry?"

Elena jumped at the voice, but then realized that it was just Bonnie and let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, trying to get out of here before Caroline comes up with some more embarrassing questions."

Bonnie laughed. "Yeah, she was even more blunt and inappropriate today than she usually is," she agreed. "Even I thought she went too far, and I wasn't the one on the other end of her questions."

"Exactly." Elena started leading the way down the corridor and Bonnie hurried to keep up with her.

"So, you cramming for the math test tonight?" Bonnie asked as they walked out into the cool afternoon. She spotted Damon, leaning against his car at the curb. "Or, maybe not …"

Elena groaned. "Not you too, please. I'm going home to study and have dinner with my aunt and my brother and then I'm going to get some sleep so I'm not completely exhausted tomorrow."

"OK, OK, I believe you," Bonnie backtracked, sounding amused. "Give me a call if you need any help; I'll be spending the night with my books too."

"Thanks, I will," Elena replied. "But I do have the best tutor, so you might be the one desperately calling for help."

Bonnie made a face. "True. OK, good luck studying – and I mean _studying_ – and I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Elena waved goodbye to Bonnie and continued towards Damon. "Hey," she greeted him, reaching up for a kiss.

"Hey there," he replied, returning the kiss for a moment before letting go of her. "Good day?"

Elena walked around the car to the passenger side. "Not really."

Damon waited until they were both in the car before he continued. "How come?"

"Caroline was being annoying," Elena told him, rolling her eyes. "She wanted to know _everything_ about our weekend in New York – and I'm not talking about the concert or the sights."

Damon laughed as he started the car. "That's Caroline for you."

Elena sighed. "I know, but it's usually not directed at _me_."

"Just tune her out, ignore her," he suggested.

"I tried, but she's so _stubborn_."

He shrugged. "Don't know what else to tell you."

"Sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to be all complaining. Letting it go now. How was the Council meeting?"

He made a split decision to not mention the possible problem with Anna. He was going to take care of it, and there was nothing Elena could do, anyway, so there was no point in bringing it up. "Fine, same old, same old."

Elena's house was empty when they got there, and she raided the kitchen for what she called 'study supplies'; two bottles of soda, a couple of Twinkies, chocolate and Oreos.

"Were you planning on going all night?" Damon asked as they climbed the stairs.

"I need the sugar if I'm going to stay focused," she explained.

"Maybe I'd rather have you _un_focused?" he suggested, quickly sweeping her off her feet. Elena laughed.

"You know that, any other time than right now, I wouldn't have any objection to that," she said. "But I have to ace the test tomorrow or there's no way I'm getting an A in math. So, please, can you stay serious, just for a couple of hours?"

He put her down again, making a face. "Fine, I'll try," he replied, making it sound like a huge sacrifice.

"Thank you." She gave him a quick kiss before leading the way into her room.

* * *

They had made their way through half of Elena's notes when Jenna got home a little later, calling a "Hello" from downstairs.

"Up here, Aunt Jenna!" Elena yelled back and soon they heard steps on the stairs and the door opened.

"Hey, studying hard?" Jenna asked, quickly looking around the room, probably searching for any sign that they'd been doing something different a moment ago. Of course, she wouldn't find anything. Damon had actually managed to not try to get Elena to stray from her books and notes and had even kept his hands to himself … well, mostly.

"Yeah, I think I'm really getting the hang of all this stuff," Elena told her aunt with a smile.

"Good, good." Jenna nodded, apparently satisfied with having found nothing to indicate that anything other than studying had been going on in the room. "Rick's coming over for dinner later, and I told Jeremy he could bring Anna, too. Do you want to stay and eat with us?" She directed the question at Damon.

"Sure, that sounds good," he agreed. "Thanks, Jenna."

"Great. Then I'll let you get back to studying." Jenna turned to leave. "And keep the door open."

Elena rolled her eyes at her aunt's back before returning her attention to the book in front of her.

They continued through graphs and fractions, equations and polynomials until, finally, at six thirty, Elena closed her book and fell back against the bed.

"OK, that's it, I'm done. I'm not gonna get anything more into my head tonight," she announced.

"Not gonna argue with that."

She heard the sound of her heavy algebra book getting dumped on the floor, and then Damon was on top of her, his body pressing her down into the mattress. His lips descended on hers and, automatically, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. After a moment, he abandoned her mouth and kissed her jaw line, her neck, lower …

"The door's open," Elena pointed out breathlessly, glancing at the, currently, empty doorway.

"Jenna's in the kitchen," he replied, his breath making the skin on her neck tingle.

"Yeah, but …" She was distracted by his hand sliding under her top, his touch making a tingle run down her spine.

"I would say 'get a room', but since you're already _in_ one, I'll go with 'close the door'," came Jeremy's voice from the hallway, and Elena's eyes flew to where he was leaning against the doorframe. She pushed against Damon's chest and, with a sigh, he rolled off her.

"Jeremy, sorry, we just …" Elena scrambled to get into an upright position as she spoke, pulling her top down.

"Don't need to hear it, I got a pretty good visual," Jeremy interrupted her. "Jenna said to tell you that dinner's ready."

Elena nodded. "We'll be right there."

Jeremy disappeared down the stairs again and Elena ran a hand through her hair, checking her reflection to make sure she didn't have bed hair.

"Your brother has _impeccable_ timing," Damon complained from behind her.

Elena ignored him. "Come on, let's go."

Dinner was nice; much less awkward than Elena would have thought, considering the fact that there were two vampires and one self-proclaimed vampire hunter at the table. But Alaric didn't seem at all uncomfortable, he participated in the conversation and laughed as much as the rest of them at Damon's sometimes-not-completely-appropriate jokes. Elena had noticed that the two men had started getting along better during the past couple of weeks, but she hadn't dared hope it would last. And Anna didn't seem to bother Alaric at all. If that was because he didn't consider her a threat because of her size or because he had somehow accepted her, Elena couldn't be sure.

"Why don't you ladies take the conversation into the living room?" Alaric suggested when everyone had finished.

Elena looked over at Damon, fully expecting him to object. But, to her surprise, he said, "Yeah, leave the cleaning up to the men."

She raised her eyebrows at him in a questioning manner, and he winked at her.

"OK, I'm not gonna say no to that," Jenna said with a smile, getting up from the table. "Let's go, girls."

It was a little after eight thirty when the guys finished the dishes and came into the living room.

"I should probably get going," Alaric said, glancing at his watch. "It _is_ a school night, after all." He gave both Anna and Damon pointed looks.

"Yeah, I need to get home to," Anna quickly agreed, getting up from her spot on the couch.

"Is your mom picking you up?" Jenna asked, and Elena thought she saw a shadow cross Anna's face.

"We haven't decided anything, but I'll call her and ask," she said.

"I can drop you off," Damon offered, remembering the talk he had been planning on having with Anna about the missing blood in Roanoke, and Anna seemed relieved to get out of having to fake a conversation with her mother. "It's pretty much on the way."

"Thanks, that would be great," she accepted.

Goodbyes were exchanged and, soon Damon, Anna and Alaric left the house.

"Thanks for that, back there," Anna said when she and Damon had gotten into his car. "Jeremy thought it would be best to let Jenna think that my mom's still around. He was afraid that she'd want to call child protective services or something, since I'm still technically a minor."

Damon nodded. "Probably a good call. I did have an ulterior motive, though."

Anna frowned. "What?"

"Roanoke, blood bank, forgetting to tamper with the inventory, ring any bells?"

Anna groaned. "Crap! I fixed the guy at the front desk, but I forgot about the inventory. Jeremy was with me, so I was a little distracted."

Damon almost drove off the road. "You brought _Jeremy_ on a _blood run_? Are you _insane_?"

"He was curious!" Anna defended herself.

"You're not gonna let him tag along to anything like this again, you hear me?" Damon shook his head. "Bringing a human on a blood run …"

"And what makes you think that you're in any position to tell me what to do?" Anna retorted, getting defensive.

"I'm only trying to get _you_ to be smart about this," he countered. "The Council's on the alert now, they think there's a new vampire in town. And that's not good for you either."

Anna glared at him a moment longer. "Fine. I won't bring Jeremy along again. And I'll be more careful to cover my tracks."

"That's all I'm asking."

The rest of the drive passed in silence. When Damon pulled up in front of the house Anna lived in, the windows were dark. Not surprising, since there wasn't anybody else living there.

"Thanks for the ride," Anna said, a little stiffly, and opened the car door.

"You know …" Damon started, and she paused, turning to look at him. "It must get lonely, living all the way out here by yourself."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "Where are you going with this?"

He almost changed his mind, but didn't. "Just saying that I've got a big old house all to myself, plenty of room."

She stared at him for a moment, then she started laughing. "Are you getting soft, Damon? Just a couple of days with Elena, and look at you! You might want to watch out."

"Never mind," he snapped, immediately regretting his offer.

"No, sorry, that was mean, but I was just a little surprised," she quickly explained. "Thank you for the offer, really. But … I'm good here, OK?"

"Sure."

He waited until she had gone into the house before he turned the car around and headed back the way he had come.

Part of the reason why he had brought up Anna's living arrangements had been that he knew that Elena wasn't all that comfortable with her brother spending so much time with the young vampire. If Anna lived at the boarding house, he would be able to keep an eye on Jeremy when he was there.

But he also remembered the Anna from 1864, the girl that had still been a child in so many ways. The girl that, no doubt, missed her mother.

And he wouldn't exactly mind the company.

OK, Anna had been right. He was getting soft.

* * *

**AN: OK, so a little glimpse into Damon's mind again. Thoughts on the chapter, Bonnie and Caroline's reactions, anything at all really, are welcome. Just click the little button saying "Review this chapter" and help me get the story past 200 reviews!**


	17. Chapter sixteen

**AN: 17 reviews on the last chapter, making the total for this story 208 reviews – you guys are the best! Paminfo – I hope you enjoy this chapter … And Barbara SGB – is Stefan coming back to find Elena and Damon together? You don't really expect me to give anything away, do you? All I can say is that this story is far from over, and keep reading to find out what I have in store for our favorite couple! OK, that's it. And, as always, a huge hug to my amazing beta, sunshine2006578. OK, now I'm done, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

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**

**Chapter sixteen **

"Halloween's coming up this weekend," Elena said one afternoon the following week when she, Damon and Bonnie were at The Grill after school. "The school is having the Haunted House thing as usual."

"Was that a not-so-subtle way to tell me that you're expecting me to go with you?" Damon asked. "Because you _could_ just ask me, you know. I might even say yes."

Elena rolled her eyes. "It could be fun," she insisted.

"Yes, because it was _so_ much fun _last_ year," he replied sarcastically.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at him. "You do remember that the whole reason Halloween sucked – no pun intended – last year was because _you_ decided it was a good idea to turn Vicki, right?"

"Oh, right." Damon frowned. "Didn't think about that. So this year should be fine, then, since I'm not planning on turning anyone."

Bonnie laughed, and Elena let out a relieved breath before joining in. She had been worried that the mention of last Halloween and Vicki would have brought back Bonnie's reasons to hate Damon, but that didn't seem to be the case. Maybe she could even start hoping that the tentative friendship she thought she could see developing between her best friend and her – boyfriend? Was it too soon to use that word? – would become a permanent thing.

"So, will you go with me?" she pushed Damon. "I won't be able to get out of it. Caroline's expecting me to be there, and since I didn't show up at Homecoming – which was all your fault, by the way – I can't skip out on this too. Plus, I really wanna go."

"Only if I get to pick out your costume," he countered, wagging his eyebrows at her in the way that meant he was up to no good.

"Now, why doesn't that sound like a good idea?" Elena mused out loud. "Oh, right, because you'll make me go wearing as little as possible."

"Sounds like a likely scenario," Bonnie piped in.

"Oh, come on," Damon objected. "OK, I admit, I like showing you off, but I don't want a bunch of high school guys ogling my girlfriend's goods. So, sexy, yes, but, as far as I can remember, your costume was pretty sexy last year too. Isn't that the whole point of Halloween?"

Elena rolled her eyes at him, while, on an entirely different level, noting that he had called her his girlfriend. That was a first, and should justify her mental reference to him as her boyfriend. "OK, but I want a veto if I think it's _way_ too revealing."

"Define 'way too revealing'." He winked at her.

"OK, I want a veto if I'm uncomfortable leaving the house in it," she adjusted.

Damon contemplated that for a moment.

"I would suggest taking the offer," Bonnie told him. "It's the best you're gonna get."

"OK, deal."

"And, of course, _I_ get to pick out _your_ costume as well," Elena said with a slightly evil smile.

"Oh no. I don't dress up." He shook his head.

"Come on, it's Halloween!" Bonnie objected. "Isn't that, like, all vampires' favorite holiday?"

Damon scoffed. "You've been watching too much Buffy, my dear. Halloween sucks, and _not_ in a good way. All those people running around, dressed like vampires. Or at least the way they _think_ vampires are supposed to look. It's annoying, and degrading to those of us who are _real_ creatures of the night."

"Are we feeling a little unjustly stereotyped?" Elena asked in an amused voice.

"Oh, come on! _You_ know what I'm talking about." Damon looked at Bonnie. "All the witches, with the brooms and the warts and the pointed hats. Doesn't that bug you?"

"Not really," Bonnie replied, shrugging. "It's just for fun, don't take it so seriously."

"Please!" Elena tried, using her best puppy eyes. "I really want to go, and I _really_ want you to come with me. Please!"

"Fine, if it's that important to you," he surrendered. "But I am _not_ going as a vampire."

Elena laughed, but had to admit that it _had_ been her first idea. Better come up with another one.

"Maybe we should try to find costumes?" Bonnie suggested. "It is only a couple of days away, after all. All the good ones are probably gone from the store already, we might have to go to Danville or Petersburg to find something."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Elena agreed, looking at Damon. "You coming with us?"

He shook his head. "I think I'm gonna keep your costume a secret until Saturday," he said with a smirk. "More of a dramatic effect that way."

Elena wasn't completely sure that she liked that idea, but didn't think there was any point in trying to get him to reveal anything if he didn't want to. He had agreed to go to the party, at least. She had really been expecting to have to beg and bargain to get him to go. "Fine. But then you don't get to see your costume until Saturday either."

"I'm OK with that."

"OK, then I'll see you later." She gave him a quick kiss before leaving the restaurant with Bonnie.

"I can't believe you convinced him to dress up," Bonnie said when they got to the one store in town that sold Halloween costumes. Surprisingly, it was still well stocked with a variety of costumes. "I honestly didn't expect him to cave, at least not that easily."

"You and me both," Elena agreed. Though she had discovered, in the past week and a half, that pouting and giving him puppy eyes _did_ get her surprisingly far … she would have to explore the extent of her newly discovered 'weapon' at some point.

"OK, what are we looking for?" Bonnie asked, bringing Elena back to the present where her friend was going through a rack of men's costumes, scrutinizing each one before moving onto the next. "Embarrassing? Because, let me tell you, I would give a _lot_ to see Damon in one of these." She held out a White Rabbit costume and Elena laughed.

"Not that I wouldn't love that too, but he would _never_ put it on, no matter what we agreed," she said, eyeing the costumes on another rack.

"OK, how about this?" Bonnie showed her a Fred Flintstones costume. "Not quite as embarrassing."

Elena looked at the costume for a moment, but then shook her head. "Still very doubtful. If I even want him to go with me, I think I'll have to get something _he_ would pick himself," she reasoned out loud.

"That's no fun," Bonnie grumbled, putting back a Yoda costume without even suggesting it to Elena. "What do you think his take on superheroes are?"

Elena turned around and gave her friend an incredulous look. "Do we _need_ to boast his ego like that?"

Bonnie laughed. "Maybe not. I'm glad you haven't gone all lovey-dovey just because you're together now. I would have hated losing our Damon-bashing conversations."

Elena laughed too. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

"OK, I'm gonna leave the hunt for Damon's costume to you, since I don't get to pick something embarrassing anyway, and focus on my own costume," Bonnie announced, going over to the women's part of the store.

"Are you going with Jason to the Haunted House?" Elena asked, scrutinizing a Viking costume. She was positive Damon would love the idea of a sword, but wasn't sure about the hat with horns, so she put it back on the rack.

Bonnie had had a good time with Jason at the Homecoming Dance, and they had been on a couple of dates since then.

"God no," she now replied. "I can only take so much football talk."

Elena frowned. "I thought you were having a good time with him?"

"Well, he's nice to look at, and he can be kind of fun to talk to too, as long as he doesn't get started on football," Bonnie said. "Then he just won't stop. I know absolutely everything about the rules, the games and the top players in the NFL. And I don't even _like_ football."

Elena laughed. "We're gonna have to find you a nice, normal, non-vampire guy who hates football, then," she concluded.

"Sounds like a plan."

They continued flipping through costumes in silence.

"It's a shame that you're not doing the couple-matching thing," Bonnie said after a while. "You could have gone as Shrek and Fiona."

Elena tried to imagine Damon in a Shrek costume, but couldn't picture it. "Have you found anything interesting?" she asked, looking closer at a Devil's costume. She could bet that Damon would just _love_ that ...

"I think it's between this one …" Bonnie held up a black dress with wings attached to the back, labeled 'Midnight Fairy', "… and this one." The other was a genie costume.

Elena contemplated the two costumes for a moment. "I would go with the genie one, but it's up to you."

Bonnie nodded. "I think I'll try them both on, see which one feels better."

Elena scrutinized two more costumes; one 20's Gangster and one Saturday Night Fever. "OK, just help me pick one for Damon first." She held the three costumes up for Bonnie to look at.

"Saturday Night Fever, Handsome Devil, or Gangster?"

"Well, I know he would love the gun part of the gangster costume and probably the whole devil thing, but I think the Saturday Night Fever one is the only one that is the least bit embarrassing, so I would say go with that," Bonnie replied with a smirk. "Did he like the disco era? He _did_ experience it, after all."

"I think so." Elena nodded, trying to remember their conversations about music. "Not sure about the clothes, but I'll risk it."

Bonnie ended up picking the genie costume and, after paying for their purchases, they left the store.

* * *

Elena was amazed that Damon managed to keep from asking about the costume she had picked out for him even once during the days leading up to Halloween. She, on the other hand, tried everything she could think of to get him to tell her what he had picked for her. But, of course, he didn't cave, no matter how much she pleaded, threatened or tried to bribe him.

"I bet it's an awful costume," she said with a frown on her face the minute he opened the door to let her into the boarding house on Saturday afternoon. "You're trying to make it so I can't back out because you know I really want to go to the Haunted House and I won't be able to get another outfit this late."

"Will you stop being so negative?" he asked, closing the door behind her. "Do you honestly think that I'm out to humiliating you in public?"

"You said that you hated Halloween," she pointed out. "And I'm making you go to the Haunted House."

He sighed, leading the way up the stairs and into his room. "I do, but _you_ love it. And you want to go to this thing. Trust me; if I really didn't want to go, I wouldn't be going."

She scrutinized him for a moment, making sure he was sincere. Then she took a deep breath and said, "OK then. Let me have it."

He shook his head in a disappointed way at her defeated voice as he opened the door to the closet and took out a garment bag, hanging it over the door before unzipping it. Elena curiously took a step closer.

"See? Nothing horrible," he said sarcastically, taking the costume out of the bag. It was a Queen of Hearts costume from _Alice in Wonderland_ – granted, you wouldn't let a nine-year-old wear it and the skirt _was_ really short, but it wasn't some barely-there scrap of fabric.

"I actually really like it," Elena told him incredulously, touching the skirt before turning around and giving him a suspicious look. "You don't have some sort of weird _Alice in Wonderland_ fantasy I should know about, do you?"

He laughed. "I might have plenty of fantasies when it comes to you, but they all involve you being you and me being me," he told her in a suggestive voice. "Trust me, this costume is coming off before _anything_ happens tonight."

The way he said it made a tingle run down her spine and, for a moment, Elena considered skipping the party altogether, Caroline be damned.

"I just remembered how you said that you used to love _Alice in Wonderland_ when you were a kid," Damon explained with a shrug, and she shook out of her daze.

"Really?" She had told him that during one of their talks about books before her finals in June. "That was months ago, I can't believe you remember."

"Perfect recall." He tapped the side of his head.

"Seriously?"

"OK, maybe not perfect," he admitted. "I mean, I don't remember insignificant stuff like what I had for breakfast three years ago, but important things like that, yeah, I remember."

She liked the idea that he had thought her favorite childhood book was important enough to commit it to memory, especially months before anything had even happened between them.

"OK, my turn," he said with a tortured look.

"It's funny, actually." Elena remembered the costume Bonnie had first suggested at the store. "Bonnie tried to convince me to get you a White Rabbit costume. Maybe I should've; we would've matched."

He snorted. "Not in a million years – and I say that knowing that I could very well be _around_ a million years from now, provided, of course, that humanity hasn't managed to make the earth completely uninhabitable by then – would I _ever_ leave this house in a bunny costume."

"The Mad Hatter?" Elena tried, but he just looked at her. "Good thing I got you something that won't completely destroy your male ego, then."

She held out the bag with his costume and he took it suspiciously. "Let me be the judge of that."

She waited patiently as he took the costume out of the bag and looked it over. "Do I pass?" she asked after a moment of silence. "You should know that Bonnie had a _lot_ of interesting ideas but that I didn't let her talk me into any of them."

"I have a feeling I should be grateful," he mused out lout. "And, yes, you do pass. I can do Travolta. But, if it's the disco thing you were going for, you probably wouldn't have had to buy anything. Stefan's a bit of a hoarder; I'm sure he has some nice Qiana shirts and matching double-knit jacket and pants in some colorful material in his closet."

He realized his mistake almost as soon as he made it; they hadn't mentioned Stefan at all since their relationship had … evolved. But, to his relief, Elena laughed at the idea and didn't show any sign of Stefan's name bothering her.

"I can actually imagine that," she said. "OK, let's get changed. The party starts in half an hour."

She took the Queen of Hearts costume and went into the bathroom to put it on.

"You _do_ realize that I've already seen you naked, right?" he called after her.

"I want to go to the party," she replied through the closed door. "And we both know that we wouldn't get out the door if I changed in there with you."

She did have a point.

* * *

Damon actually had a good time at the Haunted House; but that was mostly because Elena held on to him the whole time, squeezing his arm even tighter or burying her face against his shoulder when something scared her. She had helped decorate the gym, and he was amazed that she could still get freaked out by the skeletons, grim reapers and ghosts. He made a mental note to try to get her to watch a scary movie at some point to see if she would react the same way.

"Thanks for coming with me, and not complaining once," she said when they had gone through the entire Haunted House and were back in the parking lot.

"It was actually kind of fun," he replied. "Watching how the fake blood and skeletons jumping out scared the crap out of everyone, especially you. Scary? Not so much."

She rolled her eyes. "Just because you're not freaked out by stuff like that."

"I know the real horrors that are out there," he told her in a menacing voice. "Not much to be afraid of in a high school gym."

Elena shivered. "Please don't talk about stuff like that."

"I'll protect you if anything jumps out at us," he assured her. "You cold?"

"Not really."

"So, have I fulfilled my end of the deal now?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her from behind and nuzzling her ear. "Can we leave?"

Elena was about to say yes when she spotted Jeremy and Anna at the exit of the Haunted House.

"Jere! Anna!" she called, waving, and they made their way over.

"Hey guys," Anna greeted. "Did you have fun in there?"

"Yeah, it was really scary, don't you think?" Elena replied.

Anna looked a little doubtful. "Sure."

"Come on, Jere, back me up." Elena turned to her brother. "It _was_ scary!"

"Of course it was," Jeremy said in a voice that clearly showed that he didn't think so at all.

Elena pouted. "I still say it was scary."

Damon had been quiet so far, but now he joined the conversation. "Traitor!"

Elena wasn't sure who the accusation was directed at and looked up at him to find him glaring at Anna.

"What?" The younger vampire looked down at her outfit; black fishnet stockings, black leather boots, black leather mini skirt, black and red bodice, plastic vampire teeth and some fake blood smeared on her chin. At least Elena thought the teeth were plastic and the blood fake … "I say go with the stereotype."

Damon just shook his head. "It's people like you that give vampires a bad name."

Anna just laughed.

"We were heading over to The Grill," Jeremy said. "Do you wanna go with?"

Elena hesitated. "Actually, we were just leaving, but …"

"OK, all the info I need," Jeremy quickly interrupted her, pulling Anna along towards his car. "See you tomorrow!"

Elena looked after them for a moment, but then Damon's hands sliding up her thighs underneath her skirt distracted her. She pulled away from him a little; they were in a crowded parking lot, after all, even if it probably was too dark for anyone except Damon and Anna to be able to see anything.

"You're going to have to keep it in your pants until we get back to your place," she told him with a stern look.

"Then let's go."

She laughed as he dragged her along towards his car, opening the passenger door and practically lifting her into the seat.

"You know, if I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd think you were some sort of sex-crazed nympho," she pointed out when he started the car.

He shot her a look that couldn't be described as anything other than predatory. "When it comes to you, always."

She wasn't sure if she should take that as a compliment or not, but decided to just go with it. Putting on a sexy smile, she leaned over to kiss his neck, sliding her hand along his thigh. "Oh yeah?"

She heard him draw in a breath. "If you keep that up, we'll end up in a ditch somewhere. I'd like to see you explain _that_ to the cops."

Reluctantly, she pulled back.

Luckily, it didn't take long to drive through the town and, soon, they were at the boarding house. Elena reached out to open the car door, but Damon held her back, his lips crashing against hers, his hands everywhere. For a moment she just gave in, kissing him back and pressing herself closer to him. But when he started fingering the zipper in her dress, she pulled back.

"Hang on," she told him breathlessly, trying to think clearly.

"We _are_ at my place," he pointed out, abandoning her lips for her throat, almost making her forget everything but the feeling of his mouth against her skin. Almost.

"OK, let me rephrase; _in_ your place," she clarified before her common sense completely went out the window. "As in _inside_ the house."

"There's nobody around," he mumbled in her ear before pulling her earlobe into his mouth.

"But somebody could come by," she insisted. "Besides, there's not much space in here." The door handle was cutting into her back and she was pretty sure he couldn't be much more comfortable, with the gearshift between them. Of course, comfort wasn't exactly on top of his list of priorities at the moment.

Before she had a chance to react, he had disappeared from the driver's seat, opened the door on her side of the car and lifted her out of the car and into his arms.

"We're gonna have to work on your sense of adventure some other time," he told her as he made his way into the house and up the stairs. "You need to take some risks, live a little on the wild side."

"I thought that was what I was doing with _you_," she said, taking the opportunity to do her own exploration of his neck and jaw line while she worked on the buttons in his vest with one hand. When she got it unbuttoned and let her hand run along the planes of his chest, he groaned and stopped, in the middle of the upstairs hallway, to put her down and push her up against the wall.

"Are you _trying_ to drive me crazy?" he mumbled in her ear. "Because it's working."

She smiled against the skin on his neck, letting her tongue dart out to taste him, and he pushed her skirt up over her hips, stepping between her legs and making it very obvious exactly what she was doing to him.

Suddenly, the image of what they must look like, the Queen of Hearts making out with Tony Manero, flashed through Elena's mind and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

His hands, which had been travelling up her back, stopped. "I'm not sure I see the humor in this situation," he said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Sorry," she apologized, finding his lips for a kiss. "But you're gonna have to get out of those clothes; I can't get the Saturday Night Fever image out of my head."

"What? You don't think I'm pulling it off?" he asked, taking a step back and doing the famous Travolta pose. Elena laughed even harder. "OK, funny part of the evening over."

He quickly shrugged out of the jacket and the vest and closed in on her, unzipping her dress and letting her step out of it before he reclaimed her lips again.

The wall was a little cold against her back, but Elena's skin was ablaze from his touch, his kisses, and she barely noticed.

The sudden burst of laughter seemed to have cooled Damon down a little, and he took his time kissing her, slowly, languidly, before abandoning her lips for her neck and shoulders. He reached behind her to unhook her bra and it fell to the floor next to the dress.

He continued down her body, kissing her collar bone, her chest. When his lips grazed her breast, she drew in a sharp breath but, to her disappointment, he kept going. Her ribs, stomach, belly button, hip bone, all were thoroughly explored.

By now, he was on his knees in front of her. Slowly, he hooked his fingers in her pantyhose and slid them down her legs, his mouth following the descent along her right thigh, knee, and all the way down to her ankle, before he switched to the other leg and returned back up. As he straightened up, he pushed her underwear down, and she stepped out of them as well as her pantyhose.

By the time he kissed her on the lips again, her knees were weak, and she clung to him to keep from sliding down the wall. Impatiently, she tugged at the button in his pants, the last piece of fabric separating them. When she was unsuccessful, he replaced her hand with his own and soon got the button undone, kicking the pants off.

Eagerly, she pressed herself against him but he seemed to want to take things slow. He kissed her the same way as before; unhurriedly, thoroughly, almost lazily. One hand rested against the small of her back, holding her to him, and the other was running up her thigh, making goose bumps erupt on her skin. When he reached her hip, he slid his hand between them, finding her center and slipping one finger inside her.

Elena gasped, her head falling back against the wall. Her back arched, as if of its own accord, and her fingers dug into his back.

"You like that, baby?" he whispered in her ear, and she nodded.

"Mmmm …"

He added another finger, but his rhythm was as slow as his kisses had been earlier. Elena felt a fire start to build up inside her, but she needed more, needed him.

"Please," she mumbled, finding his lips again. She couldn't have been more articulate if she had tried, but, fortunately, she didn't need to be.

Swiftly, he picked her up and as he sank into her, she wrapped her legs around his waist with a content sigh.

Their kiss became more heated as he started moving inside her and, for a moment, the only thing Elena was aware of was his lips on hers, the way he felt inside her, his hands roaming every inch of her body he could reach. After a while, though, she became aware of something digging into her back.

She pulled away from him a little. "Ow."

He frowned at her. "What?" he asked breathlessly.

"Light switch," she replied, having figured out what the intrusive object was.

"Bed?" he suggested, getting a firmer grip on her and moving down the hall in the direction of his bedroom.

They fell onto the bed in a tangled heap and Elena ended up on top. Slowly, teasingly so, she started moving, ignoring his hands on her hips, trying to make her go faster. But, soon, she gave in and, after only a few minutes, she tumbled over the edge, collapsing on top of him.

He let her ride her high, sliding his hands up and down her sides, back, legs, and kissing her shoulders and neck, until he could feel her heartbeat start to slow. Then he rolled them around and started moving inside her again, soon following her into the land of oblivion.

After, they lay close together on the bed, not talking, simply touching without there being anything strictly sexual about it. Elena had moved onto her side and had her head on Damon's chest, and he was tracing lazy circles on her back.

"I should probably get going," she said reluctantly after some time. "Jenna'll start worrying if I don't come home soon."

"No, no, no," he objected, pushing her onto her back and leaning over her, kissing her neck. "Stay."

"Mmmm," she mumbled. "I just have to call her, let her know where I am."

He moved on top of her, letting one hand trail down her thigh and back up to her hip. "Or I could just take care of that in the morning."

He realized that he had said the wrong thing when he felt her freeze beneath him. "That's not funny," she said in a tight voice, pushing against his chest.

He reluctantly rolled onto his back. "I didn't mean it, it was just a joke," he tried to defend himself. "I'm sorry I said that."

She didn't reply. Instead, she got out of the bed and started pulling on the clothes she had changed out of earlier that day.

"You're not leaving?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I am," she replied, pulling on her shoes. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Without another word, she left the room.

* * *

**AN: I know, I know, you're probably going 'What? Why is she mad?'. I know it seems completely irrational, but I promise there will be an explanation. And if anyone wants to see the costumes, I found all of them on the internet, I'll put the website up on my profile. Last, but not least, let me know what you think …**


	18. Chapter seventeen

**AN: Next chapter, guys, with – I hope – a reasonable explanation to Elena's reaction in the last chapter. I know at least some of you are wondering what's going on with her. Some insight into both her and Damon's thoughts. As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – you guys are the best! And a big hug to my amazing beta, sunshine2006578. OK, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter seventeen **

It took Damon a moment to realize that Elena wasn't joking, and that she wasn't coming back into the room.

"Elena!" he called after her, but she either didn't hear him, or ignored him.

He could hear her make her way through the house; her footsteps on the stairs, then in the downstairs hallway before the front door opened and closed, and finally the sound of her car starting outside. She was actually leaving.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, getting out of the bed. Sure, maybe he shouldn't have said what he'd said, but it wasn't the first time he had – more or less – joked about something like that, and she had never reacted this strongly before. How was he supposed to know that she would take it seriously all of a sudden? He had only been kidding. Or, OK, maybe not completely, but he would never actually _do_ it. She knew that … didn't she?

He found the pants he had been wearing earlier out in the hallway and pulled his cell phone from one of the pockets, calling her. But, of course, she didn't pick up.

"Look, I'm sorry I said that, OK?" he started when the call went to voice mail, realizing that he sounded much too annoyed for the apology to actually have any effect. If she even listened to it, which he seriously doubted. "But you know I wasn't really serious, right? I wouldn't do that! Come on, call me!"

He hung up the phone and, for a second, considered going after her. But if there was one thing he had learned about Elena by now, it was that she would most likely slam the door in his face if he tried to talk to her when she was mad at him – which she, apparently, was. Even if he had no idea _why_. And, as much as he hated to leave things like this overnight, it was probably best to give her some time to calm down.

"Women," he muttered to himself, pulling on the pants and going downstairs. He needed a drink.

* * *

Elena stalked out of Damon's bedroom, down the uppstairs hallway – past the costumes that had been discarded in the heat of passion earlier in the night – continuing down the stairs and through the downstairs hallway to the front door.

She half-expected him to come after her, but, apart from calling her name once when she had just gotten to the top of the stairs, he made no effort to stop her from leaving. Which just made her angrier, even if it made no sense. _She_ had left, after all.

By the time she got to her car, she was fuming. The only problem was that she didn't really even know _why _she was so mad.

It was far from the first time he had suggested taking the easy way out of a situation and meddling with someone's mind. It wasn't even the first time he had suggested doing it to Jenna. And she knew that he wasn't really serious, that he wouldn't actually _do_ it.

So why was she so mad?

She put the key in the ignition and started the engine, but didn't immediately drive away. Instead, she leaned her head against the seat and took a few calming breaths, trying to think clearly.

She knew that he would never use compulsion on her, even if she wasn't wearing vervain. He would never do that to her. She also knew that he would never use it on anyone she cared about, if she didn't specifically ask him to, like she had with Jeremy after Vicki's death.

But what about other people? Strangers, people he didn't know and had absolutely no connection to, but who were still people, still humans, with feelings. People who didn't deserve to have their minds invaded like that.

She wanted to believe that he had changed, that he wasn't the same, ruthless person he had been when he came to Mystic Falls over a year ago. She knew that he wasn't feeding from humans, that he hadn't in almost six months, and she also knew that he wasn't using compulsion on people to get them to do what he wanted anymore. Over the summer, he had made a real effort to get on Bonnie's good side, and had apparently succeeded, at least partly. And, in the past two weeks, he had even put up with Caroline and Matt – who was always grumpy when Damon was around – without complaining. Much, anyway. He wouldn't be Damon if he didn't grumble a little.

But when he brought up the whole mind-control thing like that, as if it was no big deal, it immediately reminded her of _that_ person. It made her wonder if he could ever really change, or if it was just a façade he put on for her sake. Could their relationship ever be anything more than what they had right now if he still thought of humans as lower beings? If he could think about _other_ people like that, what did that say about how he saw _her_ and their relationship?

Groaning out loud, she realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere with these thoughts tonight. She would either have to try to get over it, or confront him about it and hope to get some honest answers out of him. Either way, there was no point in hanging around here. She was still too mad to go back inside and see him again, and she honestly just wanted to get home.

She pulled out of the driveway and drove through the dark streets of Mystic Falls. Glancing at the digital clock on the dashboard, she was surprised to find that it was a little after eleven o'clock. It had been just before nine when they had left the Haunted House and she had apparently lost track of time at some point. Damon had a tendency to do that to her.

Just as she wondered why Jenna hadn't called, asking where she was, her phone rang. Luckily, she checked the display before answering. Damon. She rejected the call and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat. She didn't want to talk to him, not now. She might let him convince her that she was overreacting and turn the car around and go back to the boarding house. Or she might say something that she would regret in the morning. Either way, it was safest to avoid talking to him at the moment.

The lights were still on in the living room when she got home, and she found Jenna on the couch, reading.

"Hey," she said, slumping down in an armchair. "Sorry I'm so late."

"That's OK," Jenna replied, putting away her book. "I was starting to think that you weren't coming home tonight, and that's fine, but I would like you to at least call if you're going to spend the night at … somewhere else."

"Sure, Aunt Jenna."

She expected Jenna to go back to her book, but instead she cocked her head to the side and looked at Elena. "Is everything OK?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Elena shook her head. Even if she wanted to talk to Jenna, she wouldn't be able to. Her problem was of an entirely supernatural nature, and she was too tired to come up with some 'normal' scenario that was similar enough so that Jenna's possible advice would be useful.

"Did you two have a fight?" her aunt guessed.

"'Fight' might be a little too strong," Elena told her. Four sentences could hardly be considered a 'fight'. "Disagreement, maybe."

To her surprise, Jenna laughed. "Sorry," she quickly apologized at Elena's shocked expression.

"I don't see what's so funny about it," Elena grumbled.

"Nothing, sorry. It's just, you two are so much alike, I'm surprised it's taken you two whole weeks to hit the first bump in the relationship-road," Jenna explained.

"Alike?" Elena exclaimed incredulously. "On what planet are Damon and I _alike_?"

"OK, not in everything, obviously," Jenna amended. "But you're both stubborn and used to getting what you want. Put two people like that together, and you're bound to get some … heated discussions."

Elena could tell that Jenna was downplaying it. "I'm not stubborn," she objected, crossing her arms over her chest and realizing just how stubborn she must sound and look at that moment. She uncrossed her arms again. "Much."

"You get it after your mom and me." Jenna seemed to realize that Elena was going to bring up the adoption thing and continued, "I like to think that personality traits like that are dependent on upbringing and influence rather than genes."

"Maybe," Elena allowed. Though, to be fair, Isobel was obviously pretty stubborn as well. And definitely used to getting what she wanted. Though, she thought, that could be a post-turning part of her personality.

"You should have heard the arguments your mom and I used to get into when we were younger." Jenna smiled at the memory. "But it was only because we loved each other. You don't fight with people that you don't care about."

Elena nodded, thoughtfully. She could see Jenna's reasoning.

"So …" Jenna started. "Are you going to call him and make up?"

Elena considered that for a moment. "I think I'll wait until tomorrow," she then concluded. "He can go one night thinking I'm mad at him."

"You go girl." Jenna laughed. "Men need to be put in the dog house every now and then. It's good for them, shows them who's in charge."

Elena laughed too and, feeling a little better about her disagreement with Damon, said goodnight to Jenna and went up to her room.

She didn't go straight to bed, though. Instead, she got her diary out of the secret place under a floor board in her closet where she had been hiding it since Jeremy had told her that he had read it and curled up on the windowsill. She always felt like she could think more clearly when she had written about her problems in her diary and hoped that tonight wouldn't be any different.

_Dear diary,_

_I know I haven't been writing much this week, but that's just because things have been really good. Up until tonight, of course. _

_I'm not sure what to do. Should I just talk to him about it, demand some sort of answer? And if I don't like the answer I get, then what? It's not like I'll be able to just walk away; I'm in love with him. But I don't know if I can just keep going like nothing has changed, even if I don't talk to him. _

_It's one of those lose-lose situations. If I don't talk to him, things will be weird between us, and if I do talk to him, I might get an answer I don't want and things will be weird, if not worse, between us. _

_I know what you would say if you could talk; stop beating around the bush, Elena. Grab the bull by its horns and just get it over with. _

_Maybe I will. I don't know. I think I'm going to sleep on it. Like they say, things always look better in the morning._

But, when morning came, Elena was no closer to an answer than she had been the night before.

It was Sunday, so there was nothing she needed to do, nowhere she needed to be. Her homework for Monday was done and she didn't have any tests coming up that she needed to study for.

The last day of October was a beautiful fall day; the sky outside was blue, the sun was shining. At noon, Elena decided to try one last thing before facing Damon. Since it was still a little cold outside, despite the beautiful weather, she put on a thin jacket on top of her thick sweater before she went to the cemetery. Even if she wouldn't actually get any answers, she knew that going to her parents' grave would still make her feel a little better. It always did.

She was alone at the cemetery and she spread a blanket she had brought with her on the ground by a large tree. Leaning her back against the trunk, she sighed and closed her eyes. She had left her cell phone at home, not wanting to be disturbed by any calls, and now she let her mind wander. Hopefully, the answers would come to her.

* * *

Damon wasn't sure how much time he should give Elena the next morning. Maybe she was expecting him to make the first move, apologize? He wasn't exactly a pro at the whole relationship-thing, but that would make sense, especially since she obviously thought that he had said or done something wrong.

"Women should come with a handbook," he grumbled as he called her cell, waiting for her to pick up. Instead, just when he thought the call was going to go to voice mail again, Jeremy's voice came over the line.

"_Hello?"_

"What are you doing with Elena's phone?" Damon asked.

"_She's not home, and the ringing was annoying me,"_ the kid answered.

"Where is she?"

"_Would it kill you to say 'please'?"_

"No, but it might kill _you_," Damon replied in his most menacing voice, but Jeremy just laughed. "Where is she?"

"_I honestly don't know,"_ Jeremy told him. _"She left fifteen minutes ago, but she didn't tell me where she was going. She might have gone to The Grill or to Bonnie's place, but I'm not sure."_

"Great, thanks for nothing."

He hung up the phone and grabbed his car keys on his way out of the house. As he started the car, he thought about the unlikelihood of the situation; he, Damon Salvatore, was going after a girl.

"If it were anyone but you …" he mumbled to himself, shaking his head. But it was Elena, and he knew that he would never forgive himself if he messed this up because he was too proud to grovel, if that was what it would take to get her to forgive him.

The Grill was pretty busy when he got there, it being Sunday and lunchtime. He did a quick scan of the crowd, but didn't find Elena anywhere. Instead, he discovered Bonnie, sitting by herself in one of the booths. When he caught her eye, she waved him over.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Elena is, would you?" he asked when he reached her table, not bothering with hellos.

Bonnie regarded him through narrowed eyes for a moment. "What did you do?"

"Why would you immediately assume that I _did_ something?" he asked with a frown. Bonnie just raised her eyebrows in a look that clearly said 'are you kidding me'. "OK, so maybe I did."

"Want to tell me about it?"

He considered that for a moment. He wasn't sure that Elena would be thrilled if he talked to Bonnie about something private like this. On the other hand, didn't girls talk about everything? And he could definitely use a woman's perspective, since he was more or less at a loss for what to do.

Deciding he didn't have anything to lose, he sat down opposite the witch.

"I might have … suggested that I tamper a little with Jenna's mind," he admitted.

It was a testament to how far his relationship – maybe even friendship? – with Bonnie had come over the summer that she didn't even flinch or give him a disgusted look when he said it.

"Just in general or with something specific in mind?" she wanted to know.

"We went back to my place after the Haunted House thing last night, and I wanted her to stay over. She said that she was just going to call Jenna, let her know where she was, and I – stupidly, as I realized when she stormed out of the room and house – suggested – as a joke, of course – that I take care of that in the morning."

"OK." Bonnie nodded, thinking the situation through.

"I told her that I was just kidding, and it's not even like it's the first time I've joked about it," Damon defended himself. "She's never reacted like that before, and I don't get why she did this time."

"Maybe it was just one too many times?" Bonnie suggested. "I honestly don't know what made her react like that, but you need to talk to her. There's probably more to it than just what you said last night. Elena's not one to just lash out like that without reason."

That was what he had thought too, only he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it might be that was bothering her so much. "I've tried to talk to her," he bit back, knowing that it was unfair to snap at Bonnie but unable to stop himself. "I called her as soon as she left last night, but she didn't pick up, and this morning, she left her phone at home and didn't tell anyone where she went."

Bonnie held her hands up in a surrendering motion. "OK, OK, don't take it out on me! Innocent bystander here. And I'm actually trying to help you, so don't bite my head off. Figuratively speaking."

He sighed. "Sorry."

"Why did you think she was here?" Bonnie asked.

"Jeremy said that he thought she might be here or at your house," he explained. "He picked up when I called her cell earlier. I would have gone to your place next, if you hadn't been here."

"OK, let's look at the facts here. Elena is obviously mad at you, for whatever reason. She apparently doesn't want to talk to me, or she would have called me when I wasn't at home. My best guess is that she needs to think things through on her own and have gone somewhere to do that. And that place definitely isn't a crowded restaurant."

Damon thought for a moment. "You're right," he then said, realizing where Elena must be. "Thanks, Sabrina."

He got up and quickly left the restaurants, ignoring Bonnie's, "You can stop calling me that anytime now!"

As soon as he got to the cemetery, he spotted Elena's car. Why hadn't he realized she would come here right away?

It didn't take him long to find her. She was sitting by her parent's grave, wrapped in a blanket and leaning against a large tree trunk, staring straight ahead.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing out here all by yourself?" he asked, trying to get her to smile.

She looked up at him and he did get a smile, if only a small one. "Hey."

"You know that I don't like it when I can't get a hold of you," he said. "Why did you leave your phone at home?"

She shrugged. "Needed to think without getting interrupted."

"By me, you mean?" She didn't object, so he took it as a yes. "Scoot over."

She moved a little to the side and he sat down next to her, leaning against the tree as well.

"I'm sorry about last night, OK," he said after a moment, and she nodded.

"I know. I'm sorry I left like that."

"Do you mind telling me _why_ you left?" he asked. "I'll apologize, grovel if you want me to, but I'd really rather know what I'm apologizing _for_. Plus, makes it a _lot_ easier not to make the same mistake again, you know. I find plenty of new ways to screw up, I don't need to recycle old ones."

"It was the whole compulsion thing," she replied.

"Yeah, kind of picked up on that part. Not sure why it bothered you, though. It wasn't the first time I said something like that."

"I know." She nodded. "And I don't even know why I reacted so strongly this time myself, really."

"You know that I would never do that, right?" She had to know that, didn't she? "I would never mess with Jenna's head. Not unless …"

"I asked you to, I know," she cut him off. "I know that, I do. I know you would never try to use compulsion on me or anyone I care about."

He _really_ didn't see what the problem was if she knew that. "Then what's the problem?" He couldn't help but sound a little exasperated.

"It's not just about _me_!" she exclaimed, turning to look at him. "What about other people? Would you use it on a stranger, someone you don't know?"

"Under some circumstances, yes." He wasn't going to deny that. She knew what she had been getting herself into when she got involved with him. No point in trying to convince her otherwise.

"What circumstances?" she pressed.

"To protect myself, you, people I care about," he told her. He would do anything to protect her. "To avoid getting discovered." Keeping the Council and the rest of the people in town ignorant of the fact that he was a vampire did require some mind reconstruction, mostly when it came to the people working in the hospitals where he got his blood.

She looked at him for a moment. "And that's it?"

"Of course!" What did she think, that he went around compelling random people to do what he wanted them to do for the fun of it? With a pang, he realized that that was exactly what she thought. How could she still think that? "Have these past few months meant nothing?"

"Of course they have," she mumbled, looking down at her hands. "I see the person you've become, the way you've changed."

"Then how can you even think something like that?"

"I'm sorry, I just …" She paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Last night, when you suggested meddling with Jenna's mind like that, like it was nothing …"

"I wouldn't have done it! I was just …"

"I know! I know that, OK? But when you talked about it like that, I was reminded of the person that came here last year. The person who used Caroline, who turned Vicki, who didn't care about _anyone_. And it scared me. Because it made me wonder …"

He thought he knew where she was going, and part of him wanted to get mad at her for even thinking like that. But another part of him – the larger part, the logical part – realized that it would take a long time for her to forget that person. If she ever could. He wondered what the best way would be to convince her that he really _had_ changed, that it wasn't all an act, if that was what she was afraid of. He had thought that his actions would speak louder than anything he could say to her, but apparently she needed to hear it as well.

"I went to The Grill to look for you before I realized you were here, and I saw Bonnie," he said after a moment of silence. Elena looked up at him, a questioning expression on her face. "Did you know that I've actually started considering her a friend? Never thought _that_ would happen."

"Me neither," she agreed.

"Look, I don't know what to say to make you believe me." He looked away from her, out over the cemetery. "I'm not the same person I was last year. Did I change because of you? Yes. You're the one who made me see people as something more than just puppets or Happy Meals on legs, who made me _want _to change."

She smiled. "I can't believe you remember that."

"I don't know if Stefan ever talked to you about this," he continued. "But as a vampire, you can pretty much turn your emotions off. Or, if you practice enough, turn some off. I did that for a long time. All I let though was my anger, my hate for Stefan because I thought he was responsible for Katherine dying and because he didn't let me die when I wanted to."

Elena frowned. "What do you mean he didn't let you die?"

"Can we talk about that later? I'm trying to make a point here."

"OK," she agreed. "But don't think I'll forget it."

"Of course you won't." He sighed. "The thing is, when I got to know you, everything sort of got switched back on, I guess. I didn't do it on purpose, I couldn't really control it at all, but that's what happened. For a while, I tried to hold on to the person I used to be, but then … I realized that I wanted to earn your trust, your respect. I knew that I would never deserve you, but I wanted to at least _try_. And then, when you – for reasons I'll _never_ understand – actually wanted to _be_ with me, that just sealed the deal. I'm not saying that I wouldn't kill someone if they were a threat to you or trying to kill me, or that I'll never compel someone to do something if it's to keep you safe, but the psychopath you all knew and loathed is gone. I'm not that person anymore. And, sometimes, when I'm with you, I actually forget that I'm a vampire. You make me feel alive in a way I haven't in a century and a half."

Elena was silent for a long time after he stopped speaking, and he started to wonder if he hadn't gotten through to her at all.

Then she moved close to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. Tentatively, he put one arm around her shoulders and, when she didn't pull away, he wrapped the other around her as well.

"Thank you," she mumbled after a moment. "And I'm sorry I reacted like that last night."

"I get why you did," he replied. "_Now_, I mean. I didn't last night, of course."

"I didn't really at first either," she admitted. "It was only when I started trying to analyze why I got mad that I realized what I was actually worried about."

"Which was that I've been putting on some sort of 'I love people'-act to get in your pants?" he asked, only half-joking.

"No, not really." She thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to express it. "I didn't really think that you didn't care about me or my friends and family. It was more about the way you saw the rest of the people out there."

"Not sure I'm following you completely."

"If you thought of people in general as Happy Meals on legs," she said, sticking with her made-up metaphor, "how could you see me as anything else? Not right now, of course, but down the line."

The part that he noted the most was that she said 'down the line', indicating that she saw some sort of future where he was involved. He liked that thought. A lot.

"Nope, not thinking about people like that anymore," he replied lightly. "I mean, I'll never switch to animal blood, I've already told you that, but I'm sticking to the bagged variety. You've tamed me. Domesticated me, humanized me, whatever you want to call it. I'm all bark and no bite these days."

She laughed and he let out a relieved sigh. Considering the fact that he wasn't very good at relationship stuff and hadn't had a clue why she was mad at him, he thought he had managed the situation pretty well.

He leaned his head against the top of hers and sighed. "I know that I'll never be able to make up for everything I've done in the last hundred and fifty years, but I've been trying to at least be a better person, and I'll keep doing that."

"It means a lot that you're even trying," she replied. "And it's not the person you _were_ that matters; it's the person you are _now_, the person who tried to save all the people in this town at the Founder's Day celebration. You didn't have to try to stop the tomb vampires, but you did anyway, even if it was dangerous. And it's the person you're _going_ to be. I know that you won't ever go back to the way you were before, and that's all I need to know."

* * *

**AN: So, what did you think? Acceptable reaction/explanation? Let me know … **


	19. Chapter eighteen

**AN: Over 30 000 hits and 249 reviews – this story has exceeded all expectations I had when I started writing, and it's all because of you, my lovely readers! Thank you, and keep it up! There hasn't been much Jeremy lately, I know, so a little Elena/Jeremy/Anna interaction coming up, I hope you like it! And, not to forget, lots of hugs for my wonderful beta, sunshine2006578!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter eighteen**

"So we're good?" Damon asked a little later. He and Elena were still at the cemetery, on the blanket by her parents' grave, just enjoying each other's company.

Elena squeezed his hand. "We're great."

"And if I _accidentally_ joke about mind control again, you won't get all mad?" He was going to try not to, but if something slipped out, he didn't want her to freak out again.

She laughed. "I won't, I promise."

"Good."

They sat in silence for a moment, then Elena pulled away a little so she was able to look at him, a frown on her face. "What did you mean before, when you said that Stefan didn't _let_ you die when you wanted to?"

Damon sighed. He had hoped that she would have forgotten about that, but of course not. "I guess he never told you much about when we were turned, back in 1864?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing."

"OK, well after you 'die'", he made citation marks in the air around the word 'die', "you wake up, feeling all weird. You're not really a vampire until you …"

"Drink human blood, I know," she interrupted him.

"And if you don't, you just sort of wither away until, finally, you die. Which was what I had decided that I was going to do." He gazed straight ahead, and she got the feeling that he was somewhere completely else in his mind. In another time, long ago. "It had all been to be with Katherine, after all, and since I thought she was dead, I wanted to be too."

Elena bit her lip. She didn't want to be reminded of his love for Katherine. But it was a part of his past, and she had to accept that.

"Anyway, Stefan went to see our father," Damon continued. "As far as I know, Father tried to stake Stefan – which I wouldn't put past him, he _really_ hated vampires – but he ended up on the pointy end instead, and Stefan couldn't resist the blood."

"He killed your father?" she couldn't help but ask. "That must have been horrible for him."

"Not at the time. He repressed it, turned the feelings off. But I'm guessing it's haunted him later in life. So he completed the change. And he wanted me to do it too, even though I told him I didn't want to."

"What did he do?" Elena held her breath as she waited for him to reply.

"Brought a young woman for me. He bit her himself, and the blood, the smell of it … it was just too strong. I couldn't …" He shook his head, unable to finish the sentence even after all this time.

She could hear the guilt in his voice. "It's OK," she tried to tell him, placing her hands on his cheeks so she could turn him to face her. "It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anybody's fault."

He nodded, not looking completely convinced.

"Can I say something really selfish?" she asked, hoping to distract him.

"Sure."

"I'm glad he did it." He looked down at her with raised eyebrows. "I'm not glad that girl had to die, but I am glad that he forced you to change. Because if he hadn't, I never would have met you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Totally selfish, I know."

"Selfish is good. And I have a confession as well; I'm _kinda_ glad I came back to Mystic Falls." His tone of voice told her he was teasing her. "I mean, my life would probably have been pretty great without you, but you _do_ make it a little more interesting."

"Shut up!"

* * *

"Hey Jere?" Elena knocked on the door to her brother's bedroom one morning the second week of November. "You awake?"

The door opened and Jeremy appeared, pulling a t-shirt over his head. "Yeah, I'm up. Did you need something?"

"Actually, yeah." Elena went into the room. "I was thinking I'd finally get around to putting some photos into albums, you know how Mom always procrastinated that, and I can't find the pictures from your last birthday before they died. I thought you might have them, or at least know where they are."

Jeremy thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think I saw them in that drawer over there," he replied, gesturing to a drawer in his desk. "Feel free to look for them."

As Elena crossed the room, he went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

The drawer was cluttered with everything from old pencils to little knick-knacks. Elena rummaged through the things, finally discovering an open envelope with photos. She was just about to close the drawer again when something caught her eye, and she reached into the furthest corner of the drawer to pull it out.

It was a small glass vial with a red substance in it. Elena turned it over and over in her hand, hoping against hope that it wasn't what it looked like.

"Jere, what's this?" she asked, voice a little shaky, when she heard her brother come back into the room. She held the vial up so he could see what she was talking about.

Jeremy frowned. "Oh, that." He shrugged. "I'd actually forgotten that was in there."

"Is this … is it Anna's blood?" _Please say no._

"Yeah, but don't worry." He gave her a reassuring smile that Elena didn't buy in the slightest. "I'm not planning on using it."

"Then why do you have it?" she demanded, hearing that her voice was taking on a hysterical edge.

"She gave it to me months ago," he replied, and she could tell that he was getting annoyed. "Yeah, I asked her to turn me, but I changed my mind. Don't make a big deal out of it, OK?"

And with that he left the room.

Elena looked down at the little vial in her hand, wondering what to do about it. Sure, she could throw it out, but if this was really what Jeremy wanted, he wouldn't let that stop him.

"Damn it!"

* * *

"Do you think you and Jeremy will be OK on your own this weekend?" Jenna asked Elena a little later that morning.

"Huh?" Elena looked up from her bowl of cereal, which she hadn't so much been eating as rearranging.

"Where'd you go?" Jenna wondered. "You seemed a million miles away just now."

"Sorry, got a little distracted," Elena apologized. "What were you saying?"

"I was just wondering if the house would still be standing if I left you and Jeremy home alone this weekend."

"Why, where are you going?" Elena wanted to know, forcing herself to swallow the last of her breakfast and focus on what her aunt was talking about.

Jenna smiled. "Alaric's invited me to his parents' beach house for the Veteran's Day weekend. Since I don't have to work, I thought it might be nice to go. But I need to know that you won't tear the house down when I'm not here."

"I _think_ we might manage to keep the destruction to a minimum," Elena replied dryly. "I'll even promise that we'll hide all the breakables before we invite the entire school over for a wild party on Saturday."

"OK, I get it," Jenna said. "I can trust you, I know. And I'm not even going to pretend that you _or_ Jeremy will listen if I say no boy-slash-girlfriends staying over, but will you at least keep an eye on your brother? It's not that I don't like Anna, she's a wonderful girl, but I'm a little worried about how serious their relationship seems to be getting." A crease appeared between Jenna's eyebrows as she spoke. "I've tried to talk to Jeremy about being responsible and all that, but he practically laughed at me, saying that your dad already had The Talk with him years ago. Since I was completely mortified to begin with, I chose to let it go."

Elena knew what Jenna meant, though she worried for completely different reasons than her aunt. She wished she could tell Jenna to relax; at least there was no chance of Jeremy getting 'into trouble' with Anna in the way Jenna was probably worried about. Elena's fears went more along the lines of Jeremy deciding he wanted to join Anna in the vampire world. She had the vial with blood in her jeans pocket and was going to throw it away when she got to school, but that didn't exactly solve the problem. Maybe she should try to talk to Anna instead? If she managed to convince the other girl that turning Jeremy was a bad idea, it wouldn't matter if he decided that he wanted to do it.

"Sure, I'll keep an eye on them," she assured Jenna, a tentative plan starting to form in her mind.

"Great. Then I am going to call Rick and tell him that I'm in."

"You do that." Elena got up from the table and put her glass and bowl in the dishwasher. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"Probably Thursday morning," Jenna told her. "Alaric has a meeting at the school on Wednesday afternoon and doesn't think he'll be done until after seven, and there's no point in leaving that late only to get one more night there."

"True. OK, I've gotta get going. See you tonight."

Elena left the house and got into her car, pulling her cell phone from her bag before starting the engine.

"_Miss me already?"_ came Damon's voice over the line after a moment. It had only been a little over an hour since he had slipped out of her window.

"You wish," she replied, finding no reason to divulge the fact that the butterflies that always occupied her stomach when she talked to him were currently clog dancing. "Do you have any plans this weekend?"

"_Apart from being with you, no. Why?"_

"Well, we have the house to ourselves," she revealed. "I mean, Jeremy will be home, obviously, but Jenna's going on a weekend getaway with Alaric, leaving on Thursday."

"_Oh, the possibilities …"_ he mused.

"OK, I did _not_ tell you this so you could come up with some sort of insane plan," she hurried to continue. "I just thought it would be nice not to have to sneak into my room through the window for once."

"_No fun,"_ he complained.

"Also, Jenna asked me to keep an eye on Jeremy, so I was thinking we could do some sort of double date-y thing with him and Anna."

"_Sounds wonderful."_ His voice was heavily laced with sarcasm.

"Come on, Damon," she tried to wheedle. "Jenna's worried about them getting too close, and, frankly, I am too."

"_What are _you_ worried about?"_ he asked. _"Anna probably has better self-control than even _I _do, she's not gonna do anything to hurt Jeremy."_

"That's not what I meant," Elena mumbled, pulling into the parking lot at the school. She still had a few minutes, so she didn't get out of the car right away.

"_Then what is it?"_

She hesitated. She really needed to voice her concerns when it came to her brother but wasn't sure Damon was the right person to talk to. He probably wouldn't see any problem with Jeremy wanting to be a vampire. "I found a vial with Anna's blood in Jeremy's room this morning," she revealed.

Damon was quiet for a long moment. _"And now you're worried little brother's planning on joining the world of the undead,"_ he then concluded. There was a tone of something in his voice, but Elena couldn't quite place it.

"Yeah. I mean, he said that he had forgotten it was even in there and that it had been months since she gave it to him and that he wasn't planning on using it, but he also told me that he _had_ asked her to turn him, so I don't know …"

"_I don't know what you want me to tell you,"_ he said shortly. _"I could say that everything's gonna be fine and that of course he's not gonna ask Anna to turn him, but you already know that that would probably be a lie. Truth is, as long as they're together, there's a very big possibility that he's gonna do just that. And if that happens, you won't be able to stop him."_

Elena frowned. Why did Damon sound so … angry? "Are you mad at me?" she asked.

She heard him sigh over the line, and when he spoke again, he sounded just like normal, if a little tired. _"No, I'm sorry. I'm just hungry, and you know how cranky I can get when I'm hungry."_

"OK." She wasn't completely convinced that was the problem, but decided to let it go, at least for the moment. She had to get to class.

"_You need to go,"_ he said, as if he had been reading her mind._ "I'll talk to you later. And don't worry too much about Jeremy, I'm sure everything will be fine."_

"Yeah," Elena agreed, even though he was contradicting what he had just said a moment ago. "I'll see you later."

"_Bye."

* * *

_

Damon hung up the phone and ran a hand through his hair, going over to get himself a drink. He poured some bourbon into a glass and downed it in one sweep, then refilled the glass and brought it with him over to the couch.

He shouldn't have reacted like that and it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Elena would consider Jeremy thinking about becoming a vampire a bad idea. Of course she would think that. And of course she wasn't even considering anything like that herself, he should have known that. They hadn't even been together a month; why would she be thinking about eternity, _real_ eternity, with him? Just because he had already gotten to a point where he couldn't even picture his life without her …

Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against the back of the couch. There was no point in going down this road now. He already knew that he wouldn't turn Elena against her will; he could never do that to her. Of course he hoped that one day she'd want him to turn her, but if she never did … he would just have to deal with that.

* * *

"You've been quiet all day," Bonnie noted when she and Elena were waiting in line to pay for their lunch. "Is something bothering you?"

Elena bit her lip, pushing her tray up to the register. "A few things, actually," she replied while handing the lunch lady money for her food.

Bonnie paid as well and then she scanned the cafeteria. "Come on." She nodded to an empty table in one of the corners, far enough from the rest of the students that they would be able to have a hushed conversation without anyone hearing them. "Caroline's obviously busy with Matt; she won't miss us."

Elena glanced over at their usual table, where Caroline and Matt were making out, and then followed Bonnie to the table in the corner.

"OK, Bonnie Bennett's Counseling Service is now in session," the witch said when they had sat down. "What can I do for you today?"

Elena laughed. "You _have_ been acting as my own personal shrink a lot this semester," she noted. "Thinking about majoring in psych?"

"Maybe," Bonnie replied with a smile. "So, what's bugging you?"

"Jeremy," Elena told her friend with a sigh.

"I thought Jeremy was doing great?" Bonnie frowned. "He's been a completely different person lately. Or maybe I should say that he's been his old self, the happy-go-lucky kid I remember from before your parents died. What's the problem?"

"I found a vial with Anna's blood in his room this morning," Elena said, glancing around to make sure that nobody was listening to their conversation.

"And you're that worried he might be thinking about getting turned?" Bonnie concluded.

Elena nodded. "He admitted that he _had_ asked her to turn him, but he also said that it was months ago and that he wasn't going to do it, but I don't know what to think."

"I think you're just going to have to believe him," Bonnie advised. "I mean, even if you don't, what are you gonna do about it? It's not like he'll change his mind just because you ask him to."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what Damon said too." Elena shook her head. "But I can't just let it go, you know? I'm at least going to try to talk to Anna about it this weekend."

"That sounds like a good plan," Bonnie agreed.

"A plan, at least. And then there's Damon." Elena frowned.

"What about him?"

"He seemed almost … angry when I talked to him about Jeremy and the blood earlier. He said that he wasn't, but I'm pretty sure he was."

"What made you think that?"

"Well, I told him what I just told you, about what Jeremy said about the blood and all that, and he said pretty much the same thing you did, that I won't be able to stop Jeremy if he really wants Anna to turn him. And something about how it's possible that Jeremy will want that as long as he's with Anna. But, like I said, he seemed angry when he said it. I don't know, maybe I'm just making something out of nothing."

Bonnie contemplated her best friend for a moment. Sometimes, Elena could be really naïve. "You're really not seeing what his problem with the whole thing is?" she asked after a moment.

Elena raised her eyebrows. "I'm guessing that you think _you_ do?"

"Come on, Elena," Bonnie started exasperatedly. "You were pretty much going on about how you don't want your brother to ask his girlfriend, who's a vampire, to turn him, to _your_ boyfriend, who also happens to be a vampire. You really don't see the problem with that scenario?"

Elena was silent for a moment. "Crap."

"Yeah."

"But we haven't even talked about that!" Elena exclaimed. "He hasn't said anything about wanting _me_ to be a vampire."

Bonnie shook her head. "Be realistic, Elena. He's in love with you. If you stay human, eventually you'll grow old and die. If you were in his place, wouldn't you want _him_ to turn?"

Elena bit her lip, thinking. "Probably," she then concluded. "Should I talk to him about this? But I can't tell him that I don't _want_ him to turn me. That would just make things worse."

Bonnie was relieved that Elena didn't want to become a vampire. Well, at least not at the moment. She was pretty sure that, if Elena and Damon were still together a couple of years down the road, she might reconsider.

"Then pretend like you have no idea that was what he was thinking," Bonnie suggested. "You _did_ need me to point it out to you, after all."

"That's probably the best idea," Elena agreed, letting Bonnie's jibe slide. "Besides, I have enough to worry about with Jeremy right now, I don't need boyfriend trouble too."

* * *

"Reporting for babysitting duty," Damon greeted Elena with a salute when she opened the door at six on Friday.

"Don't be like that," she complained, closing the door behind him. "It'll be fun. Movies, pizza, me …"

"Mmm, that last part makes up for most things," he agreed, pulling her close for a kiss. "Just as long as you know that this is a onetime thing. I'm not going to be making it a habit to hang out with your brother and his annoying little girlfriend on Friday nights."

"God forbid," she mumbled, leading the way into the living room.

"So, where is the happy couple?" he asked, following her.

"Upstairs," she replied, glancing at the ceiling. "'Studying'."

"They could really be studying, you know," he pointed out, flopping down on the couch. "God knows _we _study when we're supposed to more often than I would like."

"There are … extracurricular activities," she objected, sitting down next to him. "Quite a lot, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah, yeah." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You might have to … remind me."

She laughed at his blatant attempt, but didn't really mind. "Well …" She moved so she was in his lap, one leg on either side of his. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"This is a start," he replied, running his hands along her sides and then up her back. "But you're still too far away."

Smiling, she leaned in and kissed him.

As always when they were close like this, Elena lost all concepts of time and space. When Damon picked her up to put her down on her back, covering her body with his, she barely remembered that they were in the living room and didn't even care that Jeremy and Anna might walk in on them at any moment. She just wanted _him_.

As he started exploring her skin beneath the top she had on, the doorbell rang.

"Ignore it," he mumbled against her lips, but Elena had come back to reality and realized where they were.

"It's the pizza guy," she said, pushing against Damon's chest to get him to move.

With a grumble, he sat up on the couch again. "Don't tip him; his timing is _horrible_."

Straightening her shirt, Elena went to open the door, secretly grateful for the interruption. There was no doubt in her mind where things would have ended up if the doorbell hadn't broken off their make-out session, and though they had explored most rooms at the boarding house by now, including the living room, this was different. Jeremy was in the house, and even if she had no delusions that _he _wasn't having sex himself, she definitely didn't want him to catch _her_ doing it. Talk about traumatized for life.

"Saved by the bell …" she muttered to herself, opening the door. She took the box with the pizza from the kid outside and handed him the money: after the whole debacle with the vampire posing as a pizza guy, she never invited anyone she didn't know into the house. "Jeremy, Anna, dinner!" she called up the stairs before going back into the living room. Damon hadn't moved from his spot on the couch, and she raised her eyebrows at him. "You couldn't have made yourself a little useful and gotten glasses and a bottle of soda from the kitchen?"

He flashed her a smile. "Well, I _could_ have done that, but you got me all … hot and bothered, so I needed a moment to compose myself."

Elena blushed, realizing what he was talking about. "Fine, I'll get it," she said, putting the pizza down on the coffee table and going into the kitchen.

"You need a hand?" Anna asked from the hallway, and Elena turned just in time to see Jeremy going into the living room.

"Sure; could you get a soda out of the fridge?" She opened the cupboard and got four glasses out as she spoke.

"So, was this movie night thing Jenna's idea?" Anna wondered, opening the fridge.

"No, it was mine," Elena replied. Anna turned to face her, a questioning look on her face. "OK, so maybe Jenna wanted me to keep an eye on the two of you."

Anna laughed. "I thought that might be it. She's been acting a little weird around me lately."

"She's just worried about Jeremy," Elena defended her aunt. "He's only sixteen, and you've been getting pretty serious lately."

"Yeah." Anna nodded. "And I get that she worries. But we both know that she doesn't have to."

"True," Elena agreed. For a moment, she thought about bringing up the fact that she had found the other girl's blood in her brother's room and ask what that meant, but Jeremy was in the other room and would probably start wondering if they stayed in the kitchen too long. Not to mention the fact that Damon would be able to overhear. She decided to wait until the morning; Jeremy always slept until at least noon on the weekend, hopefully she'd have time to talk to Anna then. And if not … she'd come up with something.

They went into the living room where Damon was looking at a DVD-case that Jeremy had apparently brought.

"_Vampires Suck_? Seriously?" He gave Jeremy a contemptuous look. "Not only do I have to put up with all the damn Twilight-frenzy and vampires that glitter in the sun, now they're making _spoof movies_ too? Give me a break!"

"It's supposed to be really funny," Anna said, sitting down next to Jeremy.

Damon turned on her. "_You_ picked out the movie? You are a disgrace to all vampires, you know that?"

Anna just laughed. "You said something along those lines back at Halloween," she said in an amused voice. "And why don't you just give it a rest? Nobody's buying the bad-boy scary-vampire act anymore. You're about as intimidating as a little, fluffy bunny these days."

Damon's eyes narrowed and he looked like he was about to show Anna just how frightening he could really be.

"Can we just watch the movie?" Elena asked pointedly, sitting down between Damon and Anna to break up any potential fight. She leaned in closer to whisper in his ear, "I'll make it up to you later."

He relaxed a little.

"OK, TMI, guys," Anna protested.

"Maybe that's because _you_ weren't supposed to hear," Damon pointed out.

"Sorry, can't help it, super hearing," she defended herself. "You know what it's like."

It looked like the argument was about to start up again, so Elena gave Damon a pointed look. He sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you." She reached for the remote, turning the movie on. It looked like it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Damon was still laughing about the movie when they climbed the stairs later that night.

"I'm glad you liked the movie," Elena said. "But it wasn't _that_ funny."

"Oh, come on!" he objected. "The cat thing was absolutely _hilarious_. And, I'll admit, there were even a few good jokes about vampires in there."

Elena rolled her eyes as she went into her bedroom. She glanced at the door to the bathroom she shared with Jeremy.

"I'm suddenly very grateful there's a bathroom between our rooms," she mused out loud and Damon laughed.

"Don't want baby brother to overhear anything that might damage his precious perception of you? Newsflash; I think he's got a _pretty_ good idea what goes on in your bedroom after dark."

Elena sighed, pulling her sweater off. "Well, yes, that too. But more because _I_ don't want to hear what goes on in _his_ bedroom."

"Be glad you don't have super hearing, then," he told her.

She glared at him. She had put another movie in on purpose when Jeremy and Anna had gone to bed earlier, hoping that they would be asleep by the time she and Damon went upstairs too. "Are they asleep?" she now asked.

He flashed her a smile, slumping down on the bed. "Would you believe me if I said yes?"

She smacked him on the arm. "You sound an awful lot like someone who doesn't want to get lucky tonight," she pointed out dryly. "Keep it up, and you won't."

"Oh, come on." He tugged on her hand and she kneeled down on the bed. "They're asleep, OK? You can check for yourself if you don't believe me."

"I think I'll pass on that, thanks."

"You want me to … distract you?" he mumbled, unbuttoning the top button in her shirt. "I'm _very_ good at distractions." He continued working on the buttons while he kissed her neck.

"No need to tell _me_ that," she replied a little breathlessly.

"How am I doing?" He undid the last button and slid the shirt off her shoulders, following its decent with his mouth.

"I think I might need a little more distraction than that," she managed to get out. The shirt fell to the floor behind her and was soon joined by her bra. When his mouth covered her breast, she gasped.

Her hand tangled in his hair, holding him in place, and she barely noticed that he somehow managed to get out of his shirt. When he pulled away from her, she made a disappointed sound, and he laughed. Before she could react, she was on her back and he was pulling her jeans off. His own were somehow already gone, and soon their bodies were joined together.

As always when they came together like this, there was a moment when neither of them moved, just enjoying the by now familiar feeling of being as close as two people could possibly get. Then he kissed her, their tongues tangling, and slowly started moving inside her.

They'd had time to get to know each other's bodies by now, learn how to push the other right to the edge and then over. But their lovemaking was never hurried; they always took their time to get there.

When the pressure building inside her started getting to be too much to handle, Elena wrapped her legs around Damon's waist, pulling him even deeper into her. He tore his lips away from hers, kissing his way down her neck to the spot where it met her shoulders.

"Do it," she gasped, tilting her head to the side, trying to make it clear what she wanted. "I want you to."

* * *

**AN: A bit of a cliffie, I know … let me know what you thought!**


	20. Chapter nineteen

**AN: OK, another chapter, moving on with the story. As always, lots of thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – you guys rock! And a big bunch of Christmas hugs for my beta, sunshine2006578. And, while I'm at it, Merry Christmas to all my wonderful readers. I know you Americans don't celebrate until tomorrow, but here Christmas is today, so I'll just throw Christmas wishes into the mix. All I want for Christmas this year is lots and lots of reviews … just kidding, but, please, let me know what you think about the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter nineteen **

Elena braced herself, waiting for the piercing pain. She felt Damon's teeth graze the soft skin on her shoulder and neck and held her breath, but then he just kissed her again. She was about to pull away from him to ask why, but he slid one hand between their bodies, finding her most sensitive spot and sending her flying, and every thought she'd had a moment ago completely disappeared in the oblivion.

* * *

Elena soon fell asleep, but Damon stayed awake for a while.

It had taken every ounce of self-control he had built over the past century and a half not to bite her when she had come straight out and asked him to. Especially in the heat of the moment like that. But he had felt her uncertainty in the way her body had tensed, and knew that she wasn't really ready for that yet. But he thought that she would be, someday. Maybe even soon. He would have to talk to her about why she had asked him to do it when she didn't really want him to, though. He didn't want her to do something like that just because she thought that it was what _he_ wanted. Which, of course, he did, but that wasn't the point.

She mumbled something, then sighed, and he moved closer to her. He could never be close enough. Her brow puckered a little in sleep, as if she was dreaming about something unpleasant, and he smoothed it out with his thumb, her skin warm against his.

"I love you, you know that?" he whispered, low enough that she wouldn't have heard him even if she had been awake. He wasn't quite ready to say it out loud yet, but it still felt good to get the words out there. "More than anything."

* * *

Damon was still asleep when Elena woke up the next morning and, in desperate need of some caffeine, she slipped out of bed, pulled on her comfy bath robe and left the room.

To her surprise, she was met by the smell of coffee halfway down the stairs and when she got into the kitchen, she found Anna sitting at the table, a large mug of the steaming liquid in her hands.

"Morning," she greeted, and Anna looked up from her mug.

"Morning. I hope it's OK that I helped myself?" She nodded at the coffee maker on the counter. "There's plenty left. Jeremy didn't look like he was likely to regain consciousness anytime soon, and I can't go long without coffee in the morning."

"It's fine," Elena assured her, taking another mug from the cupboard and pouring some coffee for herself. "I'm not much fun myself before I've had my morning dose, to be honest."

Anna laughed as Elena sat down at the table. "The wonder of caffeine."

"Tell me about it." Elena took a big gulp before putting the mug down on the table. "So, any plans for the day?"

Anna's eyes narrowed a little. "Taking the surveillance a little too far, don't you think?"

Elena gave her a surprised look. "No, that's not why I asked, I was just curious. Sorry."

Anna sighed. "No, _I'm_ sorry. I have a habit of being a little too suspicious, I think. Years of having to watch your back will do that to a person."

"Are you talking about after your mom was shut in the tomb?" Elena asked, curious about Anna's past.

"No, before we came to Mystic Falls, actually," the vampire replied. "Back when a lot of people still thought that the creatures from myths and legends were real. That's the beauty of the twenty-first century; people don't believe the horror stories about vampires anymore. But, back then, we had to be very careful not to draw attention to ourselves. I guess it stuck with me, even after over two centuries."

"It must have been hard," Elena mumbled. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to constantly have to be careful not to make a single wrong move, since you would be persecuted if you did.

"It was, and it's not really something I'm all that comfortable talking about," Anna said, not it in a rude or annoyed way, but more sad, Elena thought.

"You must still miss your mom," she said gently. "I know what it's like, losing someone you love like that."

Anna nodded. "Yeah, I miss her. And it sucks even more because I had just gotten her back when she died, and having to pretend that she's still alive in school makes it harder. Plus, since we're supposed to be, you know, immortal, you don't really expect it to happen."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." Anna shrugged, getting up from the table and putting her mug into the dishwasher. "Thanks for the morning chat."

Elena realized that this was the opportunity she had been waiting for, her chance to talk to Anna about Jeremy's possible plans to become a vampire. "Wait!" she said and Anna paused in the doorway, turning back around. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure." The younger – or much older, depending on how you looked at it – girl came back into the room and reclaimed her seat.

"I …" Elena started, not sure how to best approach the subject. The last thing she wanted was for Anna to get defensive and refuse to talk about it. "I found a vial with your blood in Jeremy's room the other day."

Anna's face was completely blank for a moment, then she laughed. "God, I'd forgotten that I'd even given that to him. It was right before the Founder's Day commotion, I guess it sort of slipped my mind, what with the whole almost getting killed thing."

Elena nodded. "I'm a little worried, though. I mean, he _said_ that he wasn't planning on using it and that he had forgotten it was there too, actually. But I still …"

"You're afraid that he's going to ask me to turn him," Anna cut her off, an understanding look on her face.

"Yeah, pretty much. He said that he had changed his mind about wanting to become a vampire, but he could easily change it back, right? And I don't even know if he would tell me the truth in the first place."

Anna sighed. "I don't know what to tell you. I mean, I _want_ him to want me to do it, of course. _Some_ day. But … OK, I didn't really miss much, being turned as early as I was. I was already betrothed to the son of one of my father's richest friends, and the wedding was planned for the day after my sixteenth birthday. After that, I would have pretty much been expected to start popping out kids and keep my husband happy, so not much I regret not getting to do, you know. But it's different these days. I don't want Jeremy to miss something he'll regret not doing later. So, even if he does want me to turn him tomorrow, which I'm pretty sure he won't, I'm going to try to hold it off as long as I can, OK? Does that make you feel a little better about it?"

That was probably the best, and most honest, answer Elena was going to get. "Yeah, it does. I'm glad you see it that way."

"I do." Anna paused for a moment. "And he asked me to turn him months ago. At the time, it was just because he thought that Vicki was a vampire and he wanted to be with her, which sucked, you know, since I really liked him and he was just trying to use me to be with some other girl. The only reason I gave him the blood at all was because I was really upset and lonely after my mom died."

"Thank you for telling me," Elena said.

"Not a problem," Anna replied with a smile. "And you should also know that he hasn't even brought it up since, so I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about." She didn't add the _yet_, but she didn't have to: they both knew that it was implied.

After Anna had left the kitchen, Elena finished her coffee and then went back upstairs as well.

Damon was still asleep, and she was able to slip back into bed without waking him up.

Seeing him reminded her of last night, and she frowned. Why hadn't he bitten her when she had asked him to? Wasn't that the 'rule' or whatever, that the human had to give the OK? She had, but he still hadn't done it. What was up with that?

Before she had the chance to come up with a bunch of worse case scenarios, he stirred a little and opened one eye. When he saw her watching him, he smiled lazily.

"Morning," he greeted her, rolling onto his side and pulling her close. He kissed her, but she only reciprocated for a moment before pulling away. He looked up at her more closely. "What?"

"Last night," she started. "Why didn't you … you know?"

He sighed and ran a hand over his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "You can't even say it, can you?"

"Why didn't you _bite_ me?" she said stubbornly. "I told you that I wanted you to do it."

He sat up in the bed. "But did you? _Really_?"

"Yes," she replied, but a little too fast.

Damon laughed. "No, you didn't. When you thought that I was actually going to _do_ it, you got all nervous. So why did you ask me to do it if you didn't really want me to?"

Elena contemplated that for a moment. The stubborn part of her wanted to argue with him, insist that she really _had_ wanted him to do it. But she realized that he was probably right. She had thought that she wanted him to do it at the time, but the idea had also frightened her a little and he must have been able to sense that. Damn heightened vampire senses!

"I thought I wanted you to," she mused out loud. "I mean, I _am_ curious …"

"But you're not ready yet," he completed.

"But if _you_ want to do it, then I'm OK with that." He had told her that it was something he usually did when he had sex with women. Wouldn't he eventually get bored if she didn't want him to do it?

He shook his head. "I don't want you to just be _OK_ with it, and I don't want you to do it because _I_ want it. I want you to _want_ me to do it."

"OK." She nodded. "So maybe we can wait a little?"

"As long as you want," he assured her.

"And if I never want to do it?" She looked down at the bed as she spoke, not sure she really wanted to hear the answer.

"Then we won't." He reached out and lifted her chin with one finger until he could look her in the eye. "I told you that I would never do anything that you don't want me to do, remember?"

"I know, but …"

"'But' what?"

She decided to just get it out there. "I just don't want you to get bored," she admitted, the words rushing out, again averting her eyes.

"Bored?" he asked in an incredulous voice. "You seriously think I could ever get _bored_ with you?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "You said that the biting thing was something you usually did, so I just …"

"Stop," he cut her off. "Don't do that, don't compare yourself to all those women."

"Why not?"

"Because all I got from them, all I _wanted_ from them, was instant satisfaction," he tried to explain in an exasperated voice. "For a long time, that was _all_ I wanted, all I thought I'd _ever_ want. But you changed that, you changed _me_. What you and I have … it's so much more than just sex. _You_ are all I want, all I'll ever need. And, even if you walked out of this room right now and never spoke to me again, I wouldn't be able to go back to that life. If you left me, I'd spend the rest of eternity alone, missing you."

Hearing him say that made her heart flutter. "Really?"

"Really." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "So don't worry about it. I don't care if you never want me to bite you. I mean, sure, it would be … better than anything I've ever experienced, but I won't force you."

For some reason – now that he had assured her that it wouldn't bother him if she never wanted him bite her – she found herself even more intrigued by the idea.

"You said that it would be good for me too, right?" she asked, biting her lip.

He gave her an inquisitive look. "I don't think 'good' covers it," he then said in a seductive voice. "It's the most intense experience you can imagine."

"I just … I'm a little worried about the pain," she admitted. She remembered the piercing pain when Stefan had bitten her after he had been kidnapped and tortured. That wasn't what she would call pleasure, exactly, and not something she was in a hurry to experience again. Especially not in the bedroom: she definitely wasn't into the whole S&M thing.

Damon seemed to know what she was thinking about. "What you need to understand is that a thirsty vampire doesn't care if the person he or she is feeding from feels pain. The thirst is too strong. But in a situation like that, the vampire can be more careful not to inflict any pain. There might be some at first, when the fangs pierce the skin, but that would only be for a split second."

"And it won't be difficult for you to … stop?"

"Like I said, I can control myself," he told her with a slightly smug smile. "I'm not some rookie."

"OK." She nodded. "I need to think about this a little more, but I think I want to try."

"Then we will." He tried not to look too pleased with the direction the conversation had gone. "And I promise that if you want to stop, we will."

"OK."

"But I think we might want to wait until we're at my place," he continued. "An empty house, you know."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you trying to imply I won't be able to keep quiet?"

He laughed. "Not implying anything; I _know_ that you won't."

"Aren't you all sure of yourself," she muttered.

"We'll see." He pushed her down on the bed, covering her body with his. "So, are we done talking for now?" he asked before kissing her earlobe.

"Yeah … only …"

"What?" He continued down her neck, sliding the shoulder strap on her tank top down.

"You said that I shouldn't compare myself to 'all those women'."

Of course she had to pick up on that. With a groan he rolled off her and stared up at the ceiling.

"I mean, you've been alive for over a hundred and fifty years, I know that there have been other women …"

"Do you _really_ want to go down the road of past sexual partners?" he cut her off.

"I'm not asking for an exact number or anything," she replied. "Just a … ballpark figure."

"Can we not do this? Isn't the important thing that none of them meant _anything_?"

She frowned. "I guess, but … I'm trying not to let the whole Isobel thing bother me, but sometimes I just can't help it." She tried not to think about it, she really did, but it was like someone telling her not to look at the pink elephant in the room; she just had to.

He looked at her through slightly narrowed eyes. "That was _years_ ago. And speaking of keeping it in the family …" He didn't want to bring it up; hell, he didn't even want to _think_ about it. Because where Isobel had only been one in a long line of women he had more or less used for his own needs over the years, Stefan had been so much more to Elena, and he knew that. But if this was the only way to get her to see that she wasn't the only one bothered by the past in this relationship …

He let the sentence hang in the air between them and Elena's eyes widened when she realized what he meant. "God, I'm sorry, I honestly hadn't even thought about it that way." How could she have been so stupid? If _she_ worried about his brief fling with Isobel, how would _he_ feel about her relationship with Stefan? Cursing herself mentally, she decided never to bring the subject up again.

"Just like I don't think about Isobel. _Ever_, OK? I'm sorry that it happened, but it's not like I can take it back or anything, so …" His eyes bore into hers, and all she could see was sincerity. "Can we just … leave the past in the past?"

She nodded vigorously. "Of course. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up, I didn't mean to …"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupted her. "Not that I would mind if you'd want to … make it up to me …"

She moved a little closer to him in the bed. "Oh yeah?" Her smile told him that he had managed to distract her from the slightly disturbing conversation. "What did you have in mind?"

He sneaked one arm around her, pulling her body against his. "Well, I _could_ tell you … but I've always been more of a show and tell kinda guy."

She laughed, and the sound made him feel like as long as he could make her laugh, everything would be fine. Nothing else was important; not his history with her mother or hers with his brother. This, right here, was all that mattered.

* * *

When Jenna got home on Sunday afternoon, Elena and Damon were watching TV in the living room.

"Hey, how was your weekend?" Elena asked when her aunt came into the room.

"It was good," Jenna replied, suspiciously scrutinizing the room, going around and looking behind paintings, under the couch, checking the windows.

Elena watched her for a moment. "What are you doing?"

"Just making sure you've managed to cover your tracks," Jenna replied, going into the kitchen.

Elena rolled her eyes. "The party thing was a joke!" she called after her aunt.

"Yeah, yeah!"

Damon gave Elena a questioning look.

"I told her that we'd hide all the breakables before inviting the whole school over for a party," she explained. "It was a joke, but apparently, she decided to take it seriously."

Jenna came back into the living room. "OK, I believe you," she said with a wink that told Elena she had really only been joking all along and sat down in an armchair. "Did Jeremy behave himself this weekend?"

"Well, I _have_ only been able to keep an eye on him for fifty of the eighty hours you've been gone," Elena replied dryly. "I mean, I _was_ going to set my alarm and check on him once every hour during the night, but I was just too tired and I forgot."

Jenna stuck her tongue out at her niece. "OK, point taken. But he hasn't gotten into any trouble?"

"No." Elena shook her head. "I think you're going to have to face the possibility that Jeremy-the-trouble-maker-slash-pothead might be gone for good."

Jenna leaned back in the armchair. "It's not that I _want_ anything to happen, it's just that it seems like things have been too good for too long now, and I'm expecting something to blow up in my face. In my experience, that's the way the world works."

Elena didn't like the sound of that, and not only when it came to Jenna's worries about Jeremy. They hadn't had any problems of the supernatural kind since Founder's Day; did that mean that some big evil was brewing, just waiting to hit them when they least expected it?

Damon's phone chirped at that moment and, as if expecting it to be horrible news, Elena gave him a wide-eyed look.

He read the text message and then, discretely, handed the phone to Elena so she could look at it as well.

_Have new info about the werewolf myth – A _

Elena handed the phone back to Damon and gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged. Of course, he didn't know any more than she did about Alaric's news.

"So, what did you do this weekend?" Jenna asked, incredulous to the silent conversation that had just taken place in the room.

"Well, we had a movie night Friday," Elena started. "Good ole' traditional movie night with pizza and popcorn. But tell me about your weekend."

Before Jenna could reply, Damon got up from the couch. "I actually need to get going, got some things I need to take care of," he said, giving Elena a pointed look. "I'll _call_ you later, OK?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."

"OK." He leaned down to give her a kiss goodbye. "Bye, Jenna, I'll see myself out."

As soon as he was in his car, he called the teacher.

"_Hello?"_

"So, werewolves. What's the deal?"

"_Thanks, Alaric, it's really decent of you to go through all this trouble to find out more about the werewolf myth, which isn't something that you actually need to worry about since I'm the one who'll be in trouble if it turns out to be true. How can I thank you?"_ Alaric said sarcastically, and Damon rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Are the Lockwoods werewolves or not?"

"_That, I don't know."_

Damon sighed impatiently. "Then what's the big news?"

"_I know that the gene, or whatever it is, is really inherited, and I know how the curse is triggered."_

That was actually interesting. "How?"

"_The person carrying the gene has to kill someone,"_ the teacher revealed.

"Huh." Damon though about that for a moment. "That should solve the whole problem then, shouldn't it? As long as you know about it, you just have to avoid doing that and you'll be in the clear, right?"

"_Apparently, it's not quite that simple,"_ Alaric said. _"The guy I talked to said that the gene _wants_ to be triggered, not that I'm completely sure how that actually works. But the result is that, especially during and after puberty, someone with the gene will get edgy, temperamental, practically looking for a fight."_

"OK." Damon hadn't spent nearly enough time with Tyler Lockwood to know if that was the case with him. But Alaric probably had. "Do you think the Lockwood kid is showing signs of that?"

The teacher sighed. _"I don't know. I mean, he's been moody at times, gotten into more than his fair share of fights, but he's a teenage boy, so it's hard to know if it's just that or something else."_

"Can't we find out for sure? Isn't there some kind of test you can do on him?"

Alaric laughed. _"No. The only way to _really_ know is if you see a person change at the full moon, and since we're pretty sure that Tyler's not a full werewolf yet, there's really nothing we can do. My contact did say that sometimes you can see it in a person's eyes when they get agitated, but I'm thinking we're not gonna want to piss Tyler off just to find out for sure."_

"Well, that's really not helpful at all, is it?" Damon complained. "Couldn't you have found out something useful?"

"_Sorry my research doesn't solve all your problems,"_ Alaric replied dryly. _"I'm gonna keep digging, but I've pretty much exhausted all my sources, so don't hold your breath."_

"Great. Well, you get points for trying, at least," Damon allowed.

"_Oh, good, that's what I was going for all along."_ The teacher's voice was heavy with sarcasm. _"Bye, Damon."_

Damon hung up the phone and started the engine, heading towards the boarding house for a drink and a shower before he went back to Elena's. It would be a while before Jenna went to bed, so he had plenty of time.

* * *

Elena waited until Jenna said that she was going to bed before she went upstairs as well, worried that if she went to bed too early she would fall asleep before Damon got back. She wanted to hear what Alaric had told him about the werewolf curse and she knew, from experience, that he wouldn't wake her up if she was asleep.

She took her time getting ready for bed and then, after making sure Jenna was in her bedroom, opened the window and sat down on the windowsill, wrapping a blanket around herself. The night was chilly – it was November, after all, and even if the days were still relatively warm, the nights were cold – and the cool air against her face kept her awake.

She had only sat there for about ten minutes when she saw Damon emerge from the shadows underneath her window, and she moved out of the way to let him into her room.

"So?" she asked expectantly as soon as he was inside.

"We still don't know if the Lockwoods are actually werewolves," he started, closing the window against the night air.

"But Alaric had found _something_ out, right?" As she spoke, she got into bed, pulling the cover aside for him.

"Yeah, he found out that the curse is definitely inherited," Damon replied, pulling his t-shirt over his head. "And that you have to kill someone to trigger it."

Elena's eyes widened at that. "_Kill_ someone?"

Damon pulled off his jeans as well and slipped into bed next to her.

"Yep, kill someone," he confirmed.

"OK, then the only thing we have to do is make sure that Tyler doesn't kill anyone, and he should be fine, right? No werewolf." Elena concluded, putting her head on his shoulder. "Ugh, you're cold!"

He laughed a little, wrapping an arm around her. "So warm me up."

"Not so fast. Did Alaric say anything else?"

He thought for a moment. "Yeah, he said something about the werewolf gene somehow _wanting_ to be activated, and that a person with the gene will get irritable and volatile during puberty. You're around Tyler at school all day, does he get into more fights than your average teenage guy?"

Elena thought for a moment. "I don't know," she then told him, sounding disappointed. "I mean, he got into that fight with Matt at one of the Founder's parties, but I'm pretty sure that Matt was the one who initiated it, since Tyler made out with his mom."

"Right … other than that, you haven't noticed anything?"

"No. He is on the football team, though, so he could be letting steam off during practice and games. But, now that I know what to look for, I can keep an eye out for anything weird."

"Great. Now, let's move on to more entertaining topics." In a flash, he had her on her back, pinned to the mattress.

Elena laughed. "Hang on just a minute. Can we look at this from another perspective?"

"What perspective did you have in mind?" he asked, not really paying much attention anymore as he let one hand trail down the side to her thigh.

"I can't think when you do that," she complained, pulling his hand away.

"That _was_ sort of the point," he said with a smirk, but moved off her.

"OK, if the werewolf gene is inherited, that would mean that all Lockwoods have it, right?" Elena mused.

"Someone who married into the family could have passed the gene along at some point," Damon objected. "We know that the Mayor had it as well, but it could have come from his mother's side of the family, meaning … I don't know which family she was from."

"Me neither. But if we work with my hypothesis for a moment," Elena insisted. "Did you know any Lockwoods back in 1864? They were one of the founding families, right?"

Damon frowned. He hadn't even thought about that, which he obviously should have. "I did, actually. George Lockwood, we were pretty good friends."

"OK, so if _he_ had the gene, would it have gotten triggered?"

Of course it would have. "He joined the Confederates at the same time I did," he told her. "The only difference was that he stayed. I saw him at the Founder's Day celebration in 1864, he was on leave. So, I think we can say with some certainty that if he had the gene, it would have gotten triggered in the war."

"And were there any rumors about werewolves back then?"

He shook his head. "No. As far as I know, the town was busy worrying about the vampires. But, now that you mention it …" He trailed off, thinking hard.

"Yes?" Elena pushed.

"There were 'animal attacks' back then, of course. No vampires without those. But there was this one time … a man was killed in the woods, and I overheard my father talking to Jonathan Gilbert about it not being vampires. I never really thought much about it, to be honest, and I didn't hear the entire conversation, so I don't know what made them think that."

Elena was quiet for a moment. "And George was in town at that time?"

"It was just after he got back for the celebrations. And – though I'm not completely sure about this – I think it was during a full moon."

"OK. It's not a definite yes, but it's absolutely a maybe," she concluded.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Now, can we leave the werewolf conversation for tonight?"

Elena laughed quietly, turning onto her side and throwing one leg over his hip, pulling herself closer to him. "Alright, then. If you have something more interesting in mind …"

* * *

**AN: Sorry, I know some of you were looking forward to him biting her, but not just yet … A little more werewolf lore in this chapter, since I'm planning on using this a little later, though I won't tell you how just now. Let me know what you thought, and, again, Merry Christmas everyone!**


	21. Chapter twenty

**AN: I hope you all had a great Christmas – I know I did. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, you guys really are amazing. And, as always, a big hug to my wonderful beta, sunshine2006578! OK, don't have anything more to say right now, so we'll get on with the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter twenty**

The first half of November had been unseasonably sunny and warm for Mystic Falls, but in the middle of the month, the temperature dropped drastically and refused to rise above forty degrees. After a week of this, Elena surrendered and reluctantly got her winter coat out.

"This _is_ supposed to be the South," she grumbled one evening at the end of the month when she and Damon were watching a movie at her house. "Doesn't that mean it should be _warm_? Or at least warmer than this!" She got a blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around herself before leaning against him again.

"I think that term has more to do with culture and history than geography and climate," he pointed out. "We _are_ one of the northern states of the South, after all. And it could be a lot worse; it snowed in upstate New York yesterday."

"Don't talk about snow! I _hate_ snow." A shiver ran through her at the mere thought. "I still have nightmares about the blizzard back in 96 sometimes."

"And you were _how_ old back then?" he questioned.

"I was three, and it was very traumatic. My dad took me outside to make a snowman, and the snow came up over my head! I thought I was gonna get buried in it and freeze to death!"

Damon laughed, earning an elbow to the ribs. "You do realize that you probably just remember your parents _telling_ you about that, right?"

"It was still traumatic," she said, pulling away from him and crossing her arms over her chest. "And you should be nicer to me, or I won't go with you tomorrow night."

The next day was Thanksgiving and Carol Lockwood had decided to throw a Debutante Thanksgiving Ball that was going to be held at the Lockwood Mansion in the evening.

"Do you _really_ want me to go by myself?" He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "All those young women, dressed up to attract the attention of the single men at the party …"

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to tell me that I should be worried about leaving you alone with other girls?"

OK, he had stepped right into that one. "No, of course not. You know I only have eyes for you." He winked at her. "But these events are so _boring_. If there was any way to get out of it I would, but I have to go, and your company will be the only thing that makes it even endurable."

"You're just full of compliments today, aren't you?" she said a little sarcastically. "But I'll go, don't worry. I already bought a dress and it would be a shame to waste it."

"Remind me why _you_ aren't one of the debutantes?"

"You have to be eighteen," she replied. "And, since I'm not, I won't get to be paraded around in front of the whole town. Oh, wait, I already _did_ that at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant last spring and then again at the Founder's Day parade." Her voice made it perfectly clear what she thought about the debutante idea.

"I thought you entered into the Miss Mystic Falls thing because you wanted to," he pointed out.

"I did," she agreed. "I've done stuff like that for years. It was always something I did with my mom, and I've come to realize that it was more for her sake, because it made her happy, than because I actually _wanted_ to. So don't get your hopes up for a debutante ball next year; not gonna happen if I have anything to say about it."

"Well, the whole debutante thing is really just a way to show eligible bachelors that a young lady is old enough to be married off," he said. "Not really thrilled about the idea of a bunch of guys lining up to ask you out."

"Jealous?"

"Insanely," he told her, leaning in for a kiss, which soon turned into more of a make-out session.

"OK, let's keep the PDA to a minimum."

They broke apart to find Jeremy and Anna entering the room.

"Jenna might not be home, but there are minors present," Jeremy pointed out. "I'll tell her you corrupted our innocent minds."

"And maybe I'll let it slip that Anna here spends the night with you on a regular basis," Damon countered.

"Right, like you don't sneak in through Elena's window as soon as Jenna's asleep."

"OK, guys, let's stop with the attempted blackmail," Elena interjected.

"Yeah, enough with the testosterone filled man-fight," Anna agreed. "It's not nearly as hot as it looks on TV. We just wanted to watch a movie, but we can go do something else."

"No, that's fine," Elena told her, poking Damon with her elbow to get him to move over a little on the couch to make room. "We were just going to start a new one, join us." She heard Damon sigh next to her, but ignored him. He would survive one night with Jeremy and Anna.

"I'm gonna get some popcorn," Jeremy announced, disappearing into the kitchen.

"So, are you going to the ball tomorrow?" Elena asked Anna.

"Yeah, we'll be there," she replied, sitting down next to Elena on the couch. "It'll be nice to get a little dressed up; with the clothes kids wear these days, I kind of miss it sometimes."

Damon snorted. "Right, because corsets and petticoats were _so_ very comfortable."

"OK, maybe not _all_ the time," Anna admitted. "And it's not like _you_ ever had to wear them, so what are you complaining about?"

"Were you a debutante back …" Elena started, but trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence. 'Before you were turned'? 'When you were alive'? Both seemed a little rude.

"No, I was just fifteen when I was turned," Anna replied, understanding what Elena was getting at. "So I never had that. I was going to be in the Miss Mystic Falls pageant back in 1864 though, but then the whole vampire hunt happened and, before I knew it, I was on the run."

"How did you survive all alone for so long?" Elena asked. "I mean, I know that you're a vampire and perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, but still. It must have been hard."

"Emily helped me out," Anna replied. "She was probably the closest thing I had to a friend for a long time, even if she never completely relaxed around me. But I probably can't blame her for that. She was there for me, at least, and I'll always be grateful for that."

"That's good." Elena nodded.

"Of course, even before we met Emily, my mother had taught me how to take care of myself," Anna continued. "She always wanted me to be independent, not rely on anyone else. With the rings that Emily spelled for us, it was even easier."

Elena was curious about Anna's life. How old was she? When had she been turned, and who had turned her? Had it been her mother? Had Pearl even been her real mother, or was she just her 'creator' or whatever word was used in the vampire world for the person who turned someone? But she didn't ask; she didn't want to be rude, not knowing what the vampire etiquette was when it came to things like this. Maybe she could ask Damon later, he probably knew at least more about the younger girl than she did.

Jeremy came back into the room at that moment, popcorn bowl in hand. He sat down next to Anna, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders, and Elena started the movie. It was nice, she thought, hanging out with Jeremy and Anna. Sure, she and Jeremy had gotten closer again since their falling out last spring and their relationships was pretty much back to the way it had been before their parents died, but he had been spending so much time with Anna lately that she hadn't seen him much. OK, so maybe she wasn't exactly around that much either, being over at the boarding house with Damon a lot, but she made herself a promise to try to spend more time with Jeremy in the future.

* * *

Elena understood what Anna meant about it being nice to dress up every now and then the next afternoon when she and Jenna were getting ready for the ball together.

At the Founder's Day celebration she had been too preoccupied with trying to breathe to be able to appreciate just how beautiful the dress she had on was. And at Homecoming the whole thing with Damon getting shot with vervain had sort of put a damper on the situation, and she never did get to actually _go_ to the dance. Now, she didn't have to worry about a corset constricting her lungs or anything else, but could enjoy feeling like a princess.

Since she wasn't a debutante, she wasn't expected to wear a white dress, but the dress code for the other guests was still formal. She and Jenna had gone shopping in Richmond the previous weekend and both found amazing dresses.

Flattening the fabric a little, Elena looked at herself in the mirror, a smile spreading on her face. The dress was a beautiful shade of purple with beadings at the hip and on the one shoulder strap, which was shaped like small flowers. It had a rouched hour glass bodice and flared skirt and reached the floor. The back was cut pretty low; the flowery shoulder strap went all the way down to the middle of her back before meeting the dress again. Elena loved the feeling of the material against her skin; the soft silk felt almost like water.

She turned to give Jenna an evaluative look. Her aunt's dress was a dark green color, strapless and with a high, beaded waistline.

"We look great," Jenna concluded.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Elena agreed. "Did you want to borrow that necklace we were talking about the other day? It'll look amazing with that dress."

"Yeah, that would be great."

Elena left her aunt's bedroom and went into her own, opening her jewelry box. She hadn't used the necklace Jenna was going to borrow for a while, so she had to move some things around to find it. When she picked the necklace up, another piece of jewelry caught her eye: the vervain necklace that Stefan had given her, over a year ago now.

With a slightly wistful smile, she touched the silver pendant. She still thought about him on a somewhat regular basis, even missed him sometimes, the way you miss a close friend that you haven't seen in a long time. She knew that he would always have a special place in her heart, and she wanted to know that he would be OK.

Over the past month or so, Damon hadn't heard much from Henry, the vampire that Stefan was staying with. All he knew was that they were still in Canada, for reasons Elena couldn't completely understand. It had been six months since that horrible night, surely Stefan would have gotten back in control of his thirst by now? Maybe he was worried about coming back, about what people might think, what she might think. Or maybe he knew that she was with Damon now and didn't want to come back and see them together. But that was a little presumptuous, wasn't it, to think that he was still in love with her after all these months? She hadn't specifically asked Damon not to say anything about their relationship to Henry, and she didn't think that he would have told the other vampire anything without talking to her about it first. If it had been last spring, she would have wondered if he might have said something to get to Stefan, hurt his brother's feelings, but she was convinced that he wouldn't do anything like that now.

Pushing the thoughts about Stefan aside, she left her room again.

"Wow, you look great."

At Jeremy's voice, Elena turned towards his open door. "Thank you," she replied with a smile, giving her brother the once over. "You don't look too bad yourself." He was in the middle of putting on his tie and was already wearing black pants and a white shirt. The suit jacket was still on its hanger.

"Do you mind giving me a hand with this?" he asked, giving up on getting the tie right.

"Sure." Elena went into the room and put the necklace down on Jeremy's desk before fixing his tie. "What would you do without me?" she wondered with a smile when she was done.

"Never wear a tie again," he quickly concluded. "Which, you know, I could totally live with."

Elena laughed. "I know that there have been a lot of these formal events this year, but it'll be over soon."

Jeremy shrugged. "It's not really a big deal."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you do look great in a suit," she told him.

"Thanks."

Elena gave Jeremy one last smile before leaving the room and going back into Jenna's.

"Is Jeremy almost ready?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah, I helped him with his tie, so he's pretty much done," Elena confirmed, handing her aunt the necklace.

"Guys don't know how easy they have it," Jenna complained, putting the piece of jewelry on. "Just throw on a suit and a tie and they're ready to go. We have to get the perfect dress for each occasion, not to mention make-up and hair and shoes and accessories."

"Well, yeah, but wouldn't it be boring to always wear the same thing?" Elena actually liked picking out what to wear to events like these.

"I guess," Jenna agreed.

"So …" Elena started, biting her lip. "Would it be OK if I stayed at Damon's place tonight?"

Jenna gave her a quick look. "Yeah, sure."

"But …?" Elena said, feeling a 'but' coming.

"OK, I do _not_ want to do this, considering the fiasco that my 'talk' with Jeremy turned into, but … you're being careful, right?"

Elena blushed and looked away. "Of course, you don't have to worry about that."

"Good." Jenna looked reassured. "I know that you're responsible, I just wanted to make sure."

To Elena's relief, the doorbell rang at that moment.

"I'll get it," she said quickly. "I'm done anyway."

She descended the stairs as fast as her dress would allow and opened the door to reveal Damon.

"Excellent timing," she told him before giving him a hello kiss.

"Really?"

She closed the door behind him and led the way into the living room.

"Jenna was doing the 'safe sex' routine, and I'm not sure who was more embarrassed," she explained.

He chuckled a little. "Sorry I missed it." Elena gave him an evil look. "You look amazing, by the way."

"Not your greatest save, but I'll let it pass just this once," she told him. "I'm just gonna grab my things, and then we can get going."

* * *

"So what brought on the 'safe sex' speech?" Damon asked a few minutes later when they were in the car. "I mean, what does she think we did in New York, play chess? We've been together for over a month now, isn't it a little late for The Talk?"

"I guess." Elena shrugged. "I just asked if I could stay at your place tonight, I think that's why."

"So _that's_ the reason for the big bag in the trunk," he concluded. "I _was_ thinking that it didn't really match your dress, but I didn't want to say anything in case I offended you or something."

"Funny." She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "I thought we could do with some _real_ alone time, you know. _An empty house_." She put emphasis on the last sentence, hoping that he would make the connection to their conversation two weeks ago. If he didn't, she wasn't sure how to bring the subject up.

"Oh," he said, glancing at her. "You're sure?"

She nodded. "Positive. I've thought about it a lot, and I want to give it a try. I know that you would never do anything that would hurt me, and I have to admit that I'm more than a little curious."

He reached out and took her hand, kissing it before squeezing her fingers. "Thank you for trusting me."

"I would trust you with my life. I _do_ trust you with my life."

She thought she saw some sort of deep emotion in his eyes. "You have _no_ idea how much hearing you say that means to me."

* * *

The ball had already started when they got to the Lockwood mansion. Elena immediately spotted Bonnie and pulled Damon along through the crowd.

"Hey, you look amazing!" she greeted her best friend. "The dress is beautiful."

"Thank you, you look great too," Bonnie replied. "Hi Damon."

"Looking lovely, Sabrina," he told her.

"You're never gonna stop calling me that, are you?" she asked. She had pretty much gotten used to his nickname for her by now and didn't even bother getting annoyed with him anymore. Besides, knowing Damon, it could have been a lot worse.

"Nope, you're stuck with it," he replied with a smirk.

"So where's Evan?" Elena asked, scanning the crowd. Evan Whitley, another senior, had asked Bonnie to the ball.

"He went to get us drinks," Bonnie said, frowning. "But that was, like, five minutes ago. He probably ran into a friend or something."

"Do you want something to drink?" Damon asked Elena.

"Yeah, sure." She nodded.

"Be right back."

He made his way through the crowd to the table with refreshments, grabbing two glasses and filling them with punch. When he was just about to head back to the girls, someone saying Bonnie's name caught his attention, and he listened more closely.

"So you took my advice," a slightly familiar voice said.

"Yeah, but it better be worth it," another voice, one he hadn't heard before, replied. "I hate these formal events."

"Trust me, you'll be thanking me tomorrow."

"And you're sure she'll put out after the first date?"

The first guy laughed. "Do you think I dated her for the amazing conversations?"

"No, but … didn't you just go out with her for, like, two weeks?"

"Exactly. I got what I wanted and then I moved on."

Damon had heard enough. Checking to make sure that Elena and Bonnie didn't see him, he quickly found the room the voices were coming from.

He recognized one of the guys, Jason. Bonnie had dated him briefly at the start of the fall semester, but he didn't really know much about the kid.

They stopped talking when they spotted him coming into the room, and he closed the door behind him.

"Hey, man, we're having a private conversation here," the guy he didn't recognize said.

"You must be Evan," Damon concluded.

"So what?"

"So I don't think Bonnie would be all that happy with you if I told her what I just overheard."

Evan's eyes widened. "You have no right listening in!" he exclaimed.

"Let's not worry about that little detail," Damon took a step closer to the two boys. "I'm more concerned about what exactly you think you're doing with Bonnie."

He had expected Evan to back away, but instead the kid squared his shoulders and looked Damon right in the eye. "That's none of your business."

"That's where you're wrong," Damon told him, using his most menacing voice, and the boy shrank back a little. "She's a good friend of mine."

"So?"

He hesitated for a moment. He had told Elena that he wasn't going to use compulsion unless it was about protecting himself or her, or people he cared about. But he considered this one of those cases. It might not be life or death, but Bonnie could definitely get hurt. He stared into Evan's eyes.

"You're gonna show Bonnie a good time tonight. Then you'll take her home and tell her that you'll call her, but you won't. You're gonna avoid her at school, and if she confronts you about it, you'll tell her that you just don't think it'll work out between you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Evan replied monotonously.

"Now go and ask Bonnie to dance."

The boy left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, what did you do to him?" the other guy asked.

"And you!" Damon turned his attention to Jason. "You're gonna stop spreading rumors about Bonnie and tell everyone you've already talked to that you were making stuff up."

The boy's eyes went blank. "OK."

"Great." Feeling pleased with his accomplishments, Damon left the room. On his way back to Elena he spotted Bonnie and Evan on the dance floor.

"What took you so long?" Elena asked when he reached her, taking a sip of her punch.

"Line." He downed his own glass quickly. "Wanna dance?"

"I thought you didn't dance?" she pointed out, draining her own glass.

"For you, I'll make an exception," he said, putting both their glasses down on a nearby table before leading her onto the dance floor.

"Tell me about Thanksgiving back in the nineteenth century," she asked when they started moving to the music. "Was it completely different from now?"

He frowned. "We didn't do Thanksgiving in our house," he told her. "Father thought it was … I think 'Puritanic nonsense' was the words he used."

"Really?" Elena was, as always when they talked about his past, fascinated.

"Yeah, he was a bit backwards, like many people in the South back then. Though it actually wasn't until 1863 that Thanksgivig was proclaimed a national holiday by Lincoln. The first time I celebrated it was in the army that year. And, since we were in the middle of a war, it wasn't exactly a lavish dinner with turkey and jams."

"Well, you'll get to experience a real, traditional American Thanksgiving on Saturday."

"Can't wait."

* * *

"The party's starting to wind down," Jenna noted later that evening. Damon and Elena had joined her and Alaric at their table a little earlier after having danced for a good part of the night. It was now almost eleven and the large room was starting to empty out.

Elena turned to Damon. "You wanna get going?"

He nodded slowly. "Sure."

"Will I see you tomorrow, or are you going MIA until dinner on Saturday?" Jenna asked. She sounded like she was joking, but the look she gave Elena said otherwise.

"I'll be home tomorrow," Elena told her as she and Damon got to their feet. "Night."

They made their way out of the Lockwood mansion and into Damon's car.

"I'm surprised you didn't want to leave earlier," Elena said as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Why?"

She looked at him for a moment. "Did you _not_ get why I'm staying at your place tonight?"

"Trust me, I got it."

"Then what's with the whole patient thing?"

He shrugged. "Just didn't want to rush you."

"And if _I_ want to rush?" She demonstrated her point by leaning in closer and kissing the side of his neck.

"Normally, I wouldn't mind at _all_," he replied. "But there's something we need to talk about before we actually do this."

She pulled away from him. "What?"

"Location."

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, I _was _thinking bed, but …"

"Not _that_ location," he cut her off. "I was referring to where I'm going to _bite_ you."

"Oh." She hadn't thought about that. "I guess I was just assuming the neck."

"Well, that's the spot that is the easiest to reach," he told her. "Especially in the … heat of the moment. The downside being that the marks are clearly visible. I mean, it _is_ November and you could _probably_ get away with wearing a turtle neck, but …"

"I get what you mean."

"Of course, there _is_ a solution to that," he continued.

"What?"

"You take some of my blood after, and the wounds will heal."

Elena nodded. "OK."

He glanced at her. "OK? Just like that?" He had expected her to object. Humans weren't usually all that thrilled about the idea of drinking someone else's blood.

"Yeah, it's fine, I don't mind."

He couldn't discern any hesitation in her voice, and didn't want to push it, so he let it go.

As soon as they were in the house, his lips descended on hers and he pushed her up against the wall by the front door.

"Just relax," he told her, sliding one hand along her leg through the dress.

"I am relaxed," she replied, unbuttoning his shirt.

"I can hear your heart," he reminded her, caressing the inside of her thigh. "And it's beating a mile a minute."

She laughed a little breathlessly. "And that couldn't have _anything_ to do with what you're doing with your hand right now, could it?" She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and it fell to the floor. "Stop obsessing. I _want_ to do this, I'm _not_ afraid, and I'm _not_ going to change my mind. Now, let's take this somewhere more … comfortable." She pulled away from him and started up the stairs.

It took him a moment to follow her, but then he quickly caught up to her, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She squealed.

"Put me down! You'll ruin my dress!"

"The dress is fine," he replied calmly, continuing up the stairs. "And I'll put you down when I have you where I want you."

She knew it was pointless to try to get him to release her, but she still pounded against his back with her fists, if only for good measure.

It didn't take him long to get into his bedroom, and soon he put her down on the floor.

"Now …" he started, circling her like a lion circles its prey, "… let's see what we can do about that dress."

"No ripping!" she told him sternly. "I really like it."

"I wasn't planning on ripping it," he replied from behind her, and his breath tickled her ear.

"Good," she said, voice a little unsteady.

His fingers grazed her skin as he pulled her hair back, exposing her neck and shoulder. Then he kissed her neck, one arm sneaking around her waist to pull her body against his.

"Mmmm," Elena mumbled, leaning back in his embrace.

He pulled the zipper in her dress down and slipped the one shoulder strap off her shoulder while still keeping his mouth and attention on her neck.

"Did I ever tell you how good you taste?" he asked, kissing her shoulder blades. "Like summer and sunshine and something else, something I can't put into words."

"How do you think my blood will taste?" As she said it, her already rapid heartbeat sped up even more in anticipation.

"Exquisite, no doubt," he murmured against her skin. "I can't wait to find out." He lifted her up, moving her a little to the side so that she was free of the dress, which was now on the floor.

"One of us is still _way_ too overdressed for this," she pointed out, running her hand down his still pants clad thigh and he turned her around so they were face to face.

"What are you going to do about that?" he asked, eyes dark with desire.

Without breaking eye contact, she reached down and undid the button and zipper in his pants, and they fell to the floor. Realizing that he wasn't wearing anything underneath them, she wrapped her hand around him and he closed his eyes, sucking in a ragged breath.

Liking the reaction she got, she moved her hand, slowly, up and down. At the same time, she took a step closer to him and kissed his chest. She could hear his breathing start to get more rapid and moved her hand a little faster. Then, before she could react, he had pinned both her hands behind her back.

"Do you want this to be over before we even get started?" he asked in a tight voice.

She smiled sweetly at him. "Sorry."

"I bet you are," he grumbled before kissing her, hard. He released her hands and she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him lead her backwards, towards the bed, while he undid her bra and threw it aside. When the back of her legs hit the side of the bed, she fell onto the mattress. He paused to pull her underwear off before he joined her on the bed, pushing her knees apart so he could settle himself between her thighs.

"You're absolutely sure you want to do this?" he asked, kissing her nose. "Because it's not too late to change your mind."

"I'm positive," she replied, arching her back to try to pull him inside her.

"OK." He kissed her as he pushed inside her and didn't release her lips as he started moving.

She didn't know why – maybe because she knew what was coming – but the sex was even more intense than usual. His hands roamed her entire body as he thrust into her, harder, deeper, pushing her closer and closer to that precipice inside her mind. Every nerve ending in her body felt like it was raw, exposed to him, and she could feel him everywhere; inside her, surrounding her. Just when she started – in some remote part of her brain – to wonder if he wasn't going to go through with it this time either, his mouth left hers and he trailed kisses down her neck, to her shoulder and back up. Then his fangs pierced her skin, and the entire world exploded around her, again and again and again …

* * *

**AN: I hope you liked it! I'm trying to sort of merge the sexual aspect of the show with the blood exchange that goes on in the books (for those of you who haven't read them, exchanging blood is pretty much a substitute for sex in the books, since there isn't any actual sex going on) and I hope it worked. Let me know what you thought … **

**Oh, and a little info on what's going on with Stefan in this chapter - not that there's actually anything going on, but I thought I should put something in there so that you don't think I've completely forgotten about him.**

**And, as usual, I'll post the links to the dresses on my profile. I think it's working ... anyone feel like letting me know?**

**Lastly, I wanted to show how far Damon and Bonnie's friendship has come, and also show his protective side, which is why I put the scene with Jason and Evan in there. What did you think?  
**


	22. Chapter twentyone

**AN: Sixteen reviews on the last chapter, bringing the total for this story to 261 – you guys rock! Thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a review, and a special thanks to **_**whoome**_** who left the longest, and probably sweetest, review I've ever gotten – I almost got a little teary eyed when I read it! And, not to forget, lots of holiday hugs for my amazing beta, sunshine2006578.**

**I wanted to say that I have borrowed a little in this chapter, which those of you who have read **_**The Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse Series**_** by Charlaine Harris might notice. In those books, having vampire blood in your system makes you more invigorated, and I just thought it made sense, so I shamelessly borrowed it – please don't sue!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter twenty-one **

Elena didn't know how long it took her to come back down – it felt like a very long time, but she wasn't sure – but when she did, Damon had rolled them around so she was on top, her head on his chest. She hadn't even noticed that he'd moved.

"Oh my God," she mumbled breathlessly, pushing herself up on her elbows so she could look at him. He was smiling up at her, a look of complete satisfaction and a little smugness on his face. "That was …"

"Yeah, right there with you," he interrupted her, pulling her down for a kiss. She noted a faint taste of blood on his lips, but it didn't bother her at all.

"We are _definitely_ doing that again," she told him and he laughed.

"Can we at least get you patched up first?"

She gingerly touched the spot on her neck where he had bitten her and found two small puncture wounds. They didn't even hurt, but she knew that they would be plainly visible, and she wasn't all that interested in having to answer questions about how she had gotten them.

"OK," she agreed.

Damon bit his own wrist and she hesitantly licked the wound.

"You're gonna need more than that," he told her.

The blood didn't taste bad actually, not at all. A little coppery, like she remembered from when she'd automatically sucked a paper cut now and then, but there was something else … a faint taste of something she was sure was just Damon, and that she liked. A lot. She covered the wound with her mouth and sucked a little. The feeling was almost … sensual. She could tell that Damon was enjoying it too, because she could feel him harden against her thigh.

After a minute or two, she pulled away, licking her lips. "Enough?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Good as new."

Before she could say anything else, he had flipped them around again and she realized that the night was far from over.

* * *

The first thing Damon became aware of as he started waking up the next day was Elena's heartbeat. The way she smelled – that scent that was uniquely _her_, that no perfume company would ever be able to reproduce, no matter how hard they tried – invaded his senses. It was like he was even more aware of her now, with her blood in him, than he had been before. He liked that thought and wondered if it would be the same for her. No, probably not; she was human after all.

The sun shining in through the window told him that it was around one in the afternoon, and he decided that he could probably wake her up. They hadn't succumbed to sleep until after three in the morning, but had still slept for almost ten hours now. Of course, they had both been pretty exhausted …

Pulling her hair out of the way, he kissed the spot on her neck where he had bitten her last night, where the flow of blood was the strongest. There was no trace of the bite marks left; his blood had completely healed them. He was pleased that feeling her blood pulse against his lips didn't affect him anymore than it had before; he had been a little worried that it would be harder to resist her blood after he'd tasted it once. Not that he didn't want to drink from her again, of course – she had the sweetest blood he had ever tasted, no doubt about that – but he still had no problem controlling his thirst around her.

She sighed a little and her eyelids fluttered, but she didn't open her eyes.

"Morning," he mumbled in her ear, running one hand down her side.

"Morning." Reluctantly, or at least that's what it seemed like, she opened her eyes.

"Though I guess 'afternoon' would be more accurate," he corrected.

"Afternoon?" She frowned. "What time is it?"

"Around one, I'd guess."

Her eyes widened. "One? Crap, Jenna's gonna be wondering where I am." She scrambled around for the sheet, trying to wrap it around her.

"Relax," he told her, preventing her from getting out of bed by easily pinning her body to the mattress with one hand. "She can wait five more minutes."

She raised one eyebrow at him. "And you honestly think that we'll get out of bed in five minutes if I don't get up right now?"

She did have a point there. "OK, but call her and come straight back here," he instructed her sternly, letting go of her.

"Sure."

After a quick kiss, she slipped out of bed, grabbing a t-shirt that was hanging over a chair and pulling it on. Somehow, he thought she was almost sexier wearing his old t-shirt than she had been when she was completely naked … but just almost.

Elena left the room and went downstairs, having a vague memory of having dropped her purse just inside the front door last night. Sure enough, she found it on the floor and extracted her phone. Two missed calls, both from Jenna. The last one had been made only a couple of minutes ago.

She hit redial and waited for her aunt to pick up.

"_Hello?"_

"Jenna, hi, sorry I didn't answer before, I was … in the shower," she quickly improvised, hoping her aunt hadn't noticed her brief hesitation.

"_Oh, that's OK,"_ Jenna assured her. _"I was just calling to see if you two wanted to join us for lunch. Rick and I are just heading into town."_

Elena contemplated that for a moment, but decided against it, partly because she knew that the odds of getting Damon out of bed right now were close to zero and partly because, if she was going to be perfectly honest with herself, she wouldn't exactly mind spending the rest of the day – or at least a couple of hours – in bed with him either. Memories of last night flooded through her mind and she felt a tingle deep inside her.

"We actually just ate, sorry," she said, forcing herself back to the present. Her stomach chose that exact moment to start growling, and she was glad that she was just on the phone with her aunt and not face to face.

"_Oh, OK. Then I guess I'll see you at dinner tonight?"_ Jenna assumed in a pointed voice.

"See you then." Elena hung up the phone and went into the kitchen in search of some food, having realized that she hadn't eaten anything since the dinner at the ball last night.

She started a pot of coffee and then put a couple of slices of bread into the toaster, which she had brought to the house; Damon always kept food around, both for her sake and for himself, but he hadn't discovered the wonder of toast. When the coffee and the bread were done, she leaned against the counter to eat.

She had almost finished the last slice of toast when she heard footsteps on the stairs and Damon appeared in the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off sweat pants.

"I was starting to wonder where you'd gotten to," he said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Got hungry," she explained before popping the last piece of toast into her mouth.

"I can see that," he replied with a half-smile.

"There's coffee," she told him, gesturing to the pot, when she had swallowed.

He closed in on her with a predatory smile on his face. "Maybe I'd rather have _you_."

Elena's eyes widened and a mix of anticipation and a little worry washed through her. "Oh."

He laughed at the torn look on her face. "Relax, that was a joke. I'm not expecting you to become my main food source, if you're concerned about that. Last night wasn't about feeding, it was about ... pleasure. Yours and mine."

"No, I wasn't worried about that," she assured him. The idea _had_ crossed her mind just now, but she hadn't really thought that he would expect that from her. "And, you know, I'm not really opposed if you want to … have a taste again."

He nuzzled her neck, his fingers trailing along her ribs, making her entire body tingle. "I _did_ sort of get that impression last night," he mumbled in her ear.

"Did you now?" She turned in his half-embrace so that she could press her body against his. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well, you said something along the line of 'we have to do that again', so I just assumed …"

"Really?" She stood on her tip toes to be able to kiss him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her there. After a moment, she pulled away a little. "I talked to Jenna, she's not expecting me home until dinner."

"That gives us several hours," he remarked, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile. "Whatever will we do with all that time?"

Before she had the chance to respond, he had swept her off her feet and was carrying her out of the kitchen.

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks, Elena started feeling more alert, less tired and just more invigorated in general. She thought it might have something to do with having Damon's blood in her system. He didn't bite her every time they had sex – he had said something about his blood not being a good substitute for hers when it came to blood count and some other stuff, despite the fact that he never took very much – but it did still happen once or twice a week.

"So, are we still on for Saturday?" Bonnie asked when she and Elena were on their way to class after lunch one day.

"Of course," Elena replied. "But are you sure you want to double-date the first time you go out with Kevin? I mean, wouldn't it be more romantic if it were just the two of you?"

"I guess." Bonnie shrugged. "But after two more or less disastrous attempts at dating, I'm a little self-conscious. I need the buffer."

Elena frowned. "I still can't believe that Evan never called when he said that he would," she said, still a little annoyed at that fact.

"I know, it's a little weird." Bonnie shook her head. "I don't know. It seemed like he was having fun at the ball, but maybe not. It's been more than two weeks; that exceeds any kind of guy code about not calling a girl the next day."

"Well, that's his loss," Elena concluded. "If he doesn't see what an amazing person you are, then you're better off without him, I say!"

Bonnie laughed. "I think you _might _be a little partial, but I guess you're right."

"And you're sure that you don't want to go out with Caroline and Matt instead?" Elena had gotten Damon to agree to be on his best behavior, but she was still a little worried that he might give the poor guy the third degree or something. Or scare the hell out of him, which would be just as bad.

"Caroline and her bluntness are a little much for a first date, don't you think?" Bonnie countered. "Why? Are you worried Damon won't behave himself?"

"A little," Elena admitted. "I mean, he _said_ that he would, but you never know when it comes to him …"

"Well, between me being able to bring him to his knees with my little vampire mind trick – which I haven't tried in a long time so I don't know if I'll still be able to do it, but don't tell him that – and you threatening to, I don't know, withhold sex for a week, I think we can get him to behave."

Elena laughed. "Well, when you put it _that_ way." Though, to be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure that she would _want_ to withhold sex for a week …

They rounded a corner and walked straight into what looked like the beginning of a fight. A junior from the football team, Aaron Stevens, was standing with his back against the lockers and Tyler Lockwood was right in his face.

"I _told_ you to stay out of my way, Stevens! What part of that was too difficult for your tiny brain to understand, huh?" Tyler yelled, shoving Aaron against the lockers.

Remembering the werewolf curse – which the Lockwood family may or may not be subject to – Elena thought it was best to try to calm Tyler down before things got out of control and he did something stupid like accidentally kill the other kid. The last thing they needed on their hands was a temperamental werewolf.

All the guys from the football team as well as a lot of other seniors and juniors were gathered around, but nobody seemed interested in stepping in and trying to deflate the situation, so she took a step closer to the fighting boys.

"Tyler, just take it easy," she tried to reason. Tyler didn't seem to hear her, however, and, after giving a couple of the guys that were standing around a reproachful look, she went even closer, trying to pull Tyler away from Aaron.

"Let go of me!" Tyler's hand came out to push her away, and she wasn't expecting the force behind it. Before she had a chance to react or try to counteract the blow, she collided with the lockers on the other side of the hallway and her head slammed against the metal. Everything went black.

* * *

Bonnie watched in horror as Tyler threw his arm out and sent Elena flying across the corridor. She wasn't able to do anything to help her friend since she had been caught completely off guard by Tyler's outburst. A sickening sound echoed in the hallway as Elena's head hit the lockers and she slumped to the ground. After a moment of not being able to move, Bonnie rushed the few steps necessary and then sank down next to her best friend.

"Elena? Elena!" Not daring to shake her, Bonnie frantically called her friend's name, but she didn't open her eyes.

"What's going on here?"

Bonnie looked up to find Alaric striding down the hallway. When he spotted Elena on the floor, he hurried to Bonnie's side.

"What happened?"

"She was trying to stop Tyler and Aaron from getting into a fight, and Tyler pushed her back," Bonnie hurried through the explanation, on the verge of tears. "She hit her head on the lockers, really hard."

"OK, move back a little, let me take a look at her."

Relieved that Alaric was taking control of the situation, Bonnie moved out of his way and watched as he pressed two fingers against Elena's throat, obviously checking for a pulse. Why hadn't she thought of that?

"Well, she's breathing, and I think her heart's beating at a normal rate," he said after a moment, lifting Elena's eyelids. "She probably just got knocked out, but she might have a concussion. We should get an ambulance, either way."

"Right." Hands shaking, Bonnie tried to pull her cell phone from her pocket, but Alaric beat her to it.

"Yes, hi, I need an ambulance to Mystic Falls High School," he said. "A student has hit her head and is unconscious … she's breathing and her pulse is normal, as far as I can tell, but I think she might have a concussion … OK, good." He hung up the phone and gave Bonnie what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile. "The ambulance will be here soon."

Bonnie nodded, biting her lip. Feeling like she needed to do something, she took Elena's hand in hers. "Please wake up," she mumbled, feeling a tear run down her cheek. "You have to wake up." She tried to remember a spell she had read in Emily's grimoire, about channeling energy into someone else, but couldn't remember what she was supposed to do.

She felt Alaric's arm around her shoulders. "She'll be fine, Bonnie, don't worry," the teacher tried to assure her, but Bonnie couldn't quite believe him until Elena opened her eyes.

"God, is she OK?"

The sound of Tyler's voice behind her made all the fear Bonnie was feeling turn to anger and she jumped to her feet so suddenly Alaric almost lost his balance.

"You could have killed her!" she yelled, shoving against Tyler's chest. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Look, I didn't even know she was there," Tyler tried to defend himself, backing away from Bonnie. "She grabbed my arm and I just reacted instinctively. I didn't mean to hurt her."

"But you did!" Bonnie shoved against his chest again, not very hard, but he still crumbled to his knees, clutching his head.

Suddenly, someone was pulling her back from Tyler. "Calm down, Bonnie, you're hurting him," Alaric said quietly, turning her around to face him.

With a pang, she realized that the trick she had used on Damon last spring – popping the blood vessels in his brain to hurt him – was what she had just done to Tyler. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she tried to control herself.

"You OK?" Alaric asked, eyebrows raised.

Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, sorry, lost control for a second," she mumbled, glancing over her shoulder at Tyler, who was getting up from the floor, shaking his head.

The bell signaling the start of class rang and Alaric turned to the crowd that was still gathered in the hallway. "OK, everyone get to class!" he told them. "Ellie, tell my history class that they're dismissed and get Jeremy Gilbert here, OK?"

A blonde junior nodded and hurried off down the hallway as the rest of the people, slowly and with many looks over their shoulders, walked away.

"Can I do anything?" Tyler asked anxiously, a look of guilt on his face.

Alaric thought for a moment. "Go outside, wait for the ambulance and show the paramedics where we are, OK?"

With a relieved nod, Tyler left them as well and Bonnie was alone in the hallway with Alaric and the still unconscious Elena. "Should we maybe move her?" she suggested. "The teachers' lounge is just around the corner, she would be more comfortable on the couch in there."

Alaric shook his head. "I don't want to risk moving her until the paramedics get the neck collar thing on her. I don't think she has any neck injuries, but we can't be sure, and better safe than sorry."

"Oh my God." Bonnie slumped down on the floor again.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Bonnie," Alaric tried again. "Will you be OK here for a moment? I want to get a blanket, we should probably try to keep her warm."

Bonnie nodded and Alaric disappeared around the corner, returning within a minute with a blanket. He spread it over Elena and Bonnie pulled it up to her chin.

"She shouldn't have gotten in the middle," she said in an almost accusatory voice.

"She was probably trying to keep Tyler from doing something stupid," Alaric assumed. "With the curse and all that … you know about that, right?"

Bonnie nodded, but before she had a chance to reply, Jeremy came running down the corridor with Anna in tow. "What happened?" he asked, coming to a stop next to Bonnie. "Elena?"

"She hit her head, but I'm sure she'll be fine," Alaric told him. "The paramedics should be here …" Two men with a gurney came around the corner at that moment, Tyler trailing behind them, "… now. Come on, give them some space."

Bonnie and Jeremy stood back as the paramedics checked Elena's breathing and heartbeat as well as some other things that Bonnie didn't know what they were for. After a couple of minutes, they put a neck collar on her and lifted her onto the gurney. One of the paramedics started rolling the gurney down the hallway again while the other turned to Alaric.

"As far as I can tell, she doesn't have any neck injuries," he started. "We just put the collar on to be on the safe side, it's standard procedure with head injuries. It's very likely she has a mild traumatic brain injury, in other words a concussion, though, and since she's unconscious, we'll bring her in to the hospital, but I don't think you need to worry. She'll probably wake up soon, and she should be discharged tonight."

Bonnie let out a relieved breath at that. Even if Alaric had been convinced that Elena was fine, she had been really worried, and hearing a trained professional say that her friend was going to be OK made her feel a lot better.

"We need to contact her parents, do you know how to get a hold of them?" the paramedic continued.

"Our parents are dead," Jeremy piped in. "I'm her brother. We're living with our aunt, Jenna."

"I'll call her," Alaric quickly said. He knew that Jenna would freak out if the paramedics called her; it would be better if he did it.

"Great." The paramedic turned to Jeremy. "Do you want to go with us in the ambulance?"

"That's OK, I can take him and Bonnie to the hospital," Alaric offered and Jeremy looked relieved.

"OK, then we'll get going." The paramedic left the same way his colleague had a moment ago.

"You should probably go back to class, Anna," Alaric suggested, but the girl shook her head.

"No way, I'm going with Jeremy."

Alaric sighed. He knew that there was no point in arguing. "Fine, let's go."

He, Bonnie, Jeremy and Anna started walking down the hallway.

"Hey, Bonnie!" Tyler called after them, and Bonnie turned around. She had almost forgotten about him in the commotion with the paramedics. "Tell Elena … tell her I'm sorry, OK? I honestly didn't see her, and I didn't mean to …"

"_You_ did this?" Jeremy cut him off, taking a few steps back towards Tyler.

"I'm sorry, OK, I didn't mean to."

"You son of a bitch, I'm gonna …" Jeremy advanced on Tyler, but Anna grabbed him by the arms, holding him back.

"Come on, Jeremy, he's not worth it," she said in a calming voice. "Let's go to the hospital, OK? Make sure Elena's OK. Come on." She pulled him backwards, though he still faced Tyler, fists clenched.

"You, go to class," Alaric told Tyler before turning his back on the kid once more.

With Anna's help, they got Jeremy out of the school and into the backseat of Alaric's car. Anna got in next to him, continuing to talk to him in a soothing voice.

As soon as he had pulled out of the school's parking lot, Alaric called Jenna at work.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi, it's me."

"_Shouldn't you be in class?"_ Jenna asked in a teasing voice. _"You know, ditching is bad, especially if you're the teacher. What are the kids going to think about you?"_

"There was an accident," he told her, deciding to use the band-aid approach; just get it out there.

"_What happened? Are you OK?"_

"I'm fine, it wasn't me. She'll be fine, but Elena somehow ended up in the middle of a fight and she hit her head. We're on our way to the hospital right now, can you get someone to drive you there?"

"_Yeah, I … of course, I … are you sure she's OK?"_

Not wanting to add to Jenna's worries by telling her that Elena had been unconscious when he had last seen her, Alaric edited a little. "The paramedic said that she most likely has a concussion, but he said that she would probably be released tonight."

"_OK, OK … she's fine."_

"She's fine," he repeated.

"_I'll be there in a minute."_

"Get someone to drive you," he told her again. He didn't want her driving herself; even if she wasn't completely freaking out, she was still upset.

"_I will, see you soon."_

She hung up the phone just as Alaric turned into the parking lot at the hospital. He quickly found an open space close to the entrance.

"Jenna will be here soon," he told Jeremy, glancing at the kid in the rearview mirror.

"OK."

Bonnie led the way into the hospital, knowing where the ICU was located. The nurse at the desk only knew that Elena had been brought in, but had no information for them about how she was doing, so, reluctantly, they settled into the plastic chairs and waited.

Bonnie leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes. Why did this have to happen? Elena had been so happy lately, everything seemed to be going well for the first time in a while. School, things with Jeremy, Damon …

"Damon!" she said out loud, causing the others to look at her.

Jeremy seemed to understand what she was talking about. "Someone should call him."

"I would, but I want to stay here in case they have any news for us." Bonnie glanced at the doors leading to the ICU as she spoke.

"I can call him," Anna offered, getting up. "I don't have his number, though."

"I have it," Alaric said, pulling his cell out of his pocket.

Anna entered the number into her own cell phone.

"Don't tell him what happened," Bonnie instructed her before she left the waiting room. "He'll go after Tyler if you do."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Anna asked, an amused look on her face. "I'll tell him as little as I possibly can to get him here, don't worry."

She left the room and Bonnie, Jeremy and Alaric returned to their silent wait.

It was only a couple of minutes later when Jenna came hurrying down the hallway. "How is she?" she asked as soon as she was within hearing distance and Alaric got up.

"We haven't heard anything yet," he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her to the chair next to Jeremy's. When she sat down, Jeremy took her hand in his and squeezed it.

"She'll be fine," he tried to comfort her, even if he wasn't completely convinced himself.

"What happened?" Jenna asked, turning to Alaric.

"I only got there after," he said, shaking his head to indicate that he didn't really know much.

"She was trying to stop a fight between Tyler and this other kid on the football team," Bonnie started and Jenna turned her attention to her. "Tyler said that he was sorry, that he didn't mean to hurt her …"

"Right," Jeremy muttered under his breath.

"I honestly think that he reacted instinctively," Bonnie continued. "Elena grabbed his arm, and he pushed her back and somehow she hit her head on a locker." She thought it was best to keep the details a little blurry so as not to draw attention to Tyler's more-than-human strength.

"But she seemed OK when you got here?" Jenna asked.

"Well, she was unconscious when the ambulance arrived at the school," Alaric admitted reluctantly, knowing that Jenna would find out sooner or later.

"Unconscious?" Jenna's voice became a little more shrill than usual.

"But the paramedic wasn't worried," Alaric hurried to add. "He said that she probably has a concussion, but that he didn't think there were any neck injuries, so that's good."

"Yeah." Jenna nodded, biting her lip.

"We've only been here for ten minutes," Jeremy said. "I'm sure they'll be out to tell us that she's awake soon, Aunt Jenna."

Jenna gave Jeremy a weak smile. "I'm sure they will."

"The only thing we can do right now is to wait," Alaric concluded.

And they did.

* * *

Damon got home a little before one in the afternoon after a Council meeting. A completely useless Council meeting, if you asked him. He just didn't get why they had to meet once a week when there hadn't been anything to report in almost two months, not since Anna's not-so-successful trip to the blood bank at the hospital in Roanoke. Wasn't the whole point of the Council that it could be summoned when there was a vampire problem? But Liz wanted to keep it running just in case, so he just went along with it. Also, it kept him distracted for part of the day. He understood why Elena had to go to school, he did, but it sucked that it meant that he didn't get to see her all day.

As he walked into the living room to pour himself a drink, he glanced at his watch. Three minutes to one, just two more hours until the last period ended and he would be picking her up at the school. No big.

As he uncorked the bottle of bourbon, his phone rang. He didn't recognize the number but, with a frown, he answered.

"Hello?"

"_Damon?"_ A familiar voice he couldn't quite place came over the line.

"Speaking. Who's this?"

"_It's Anna."_

Oh. The frown on his face deepened; she had never called him before, why would she be doing it now. "Something on your mind?"

"_Could you come to the hospital?"_

The hospital? "Why? Did you mess up with the blood bank again, because I can't always clean up your mess and I told you last time that you have to be …"

_"It's Elena,"_ she cut him off, and he froze in place. Two little words, that was all it took to completely dislodge his entire world, turn it into something he didn't recognize and didn't want to recognize.

"What happened?" he managed to get out while images of one horrible thing after another flashed through his mind. A car accident – but why wasn't she in school? – a fall or collision with another student in PE, a freak explosion in chemistry, a kid bringing a gun to school, an insane serial killer …

_"She hit her head, she's unconscious but she'll …"_

He stopped listening at the word 'unconscious' and, dropping the glass he'd had in his hand, he left the boarding house so fast that, had anyone been watching, they wouldn't have been able to see anything more than a blur.

* * *

**AN: A little more action in this chapter, what did you think? As always, reviews are very appreciated, so please click the little button saying 'Review this chapter' and tell me what you thought.**


	23. Chapter twentytwo

**AN: Wow, amazing feedback on the last chapter – 35 reviews, that even beats chapter thirteen with my little evil kiss-cliffie! If you guys keep this incredible reviewing up, this story might challenge my Twilight-stories, so keep 'em coming! Just kidding, but you know I love reviews so, if you have the time, please leave one to let me know what you think. **

**When I had just posted the last chapter, I realized that I'd forgotten to wish everyone a happy new year, so here it is, a little late but anyway – Happy New Year everyone! Hope you've had a good first few days of 2011! **

**As always, lots of hugs to my beta, sunshine2006578.**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter twenty-two**

"... be fine," Anna completed the sentence, but Damon had already hung up. "Crap!" Ending the call, she immediately tried his number again, but he didn't pick up. "Well, that could have gone better," she muttered to herself as she went back into the hospital, making her way to the waiting room in the ICU.

"Did you get a hold of him?" Bonnie asked as Anna came back into the room and rejoined the others.

"Yeah." Anna grimaced. "I told him that Elena had hit her head and was unconscious, and then he hung up on me before I had a chance to tell him that she's going to be fine. I probably should have started with that part, but too late now."

"That can't be good," Jeremy concluded.

"The only thing he can do is come here, though," Anna reasoned, trying to convince herself as much as the others. "I didn't say anything about Tyler, so he has no reason to go after him. He'll probably be here soon."

"Mrs. Gilbert?" They all turned at the voice and found a doctor standing in the middle of the waiting room, looking around at the people waiting for updates on their loved ones.

"That's me," Jenna said, jumping to her feet. "Or, well, it's not, but I'm Elena Gilbert's aunt and her guardian."

The doctor shook hands with Jenna and then indicated that she sit back down. "I'm Doctor Jacobsen," he told them. "I've examined your niece. She's awake, she came to on the way here in the ambulance. She has a concussion which we label as grade three, which means that she was unconscious for longer than five minutes after she hit her head. There doesn't appear to be any brain damage or neck injuries, however, and she's not experiencing any kind of amnesia as far as I can tell. But since she did hit her head we're going to do a head CT just to make sure that she doesn't have any bleeding in the brain. As long as that doesn't show anything alarming, we'll be monitoring her for a couple of hours and then she'll be able to go home later today."

"Oh thank God!" Jenna exclaimed. "Can we see her?"

The doctor hesitated. "She'll be taken up to radiology in a couple of minutes, but I suppose you can see her until then. Not everyone, though."

"We'll wait here," Alaric offered, and Anna and Bonnie nodded.

"OK, we'll be right back," Jenna said before she and Jeremy followed the doctor through the doors to the ICU.

"In here," Doctor Jacobsen said, stopping at a door. "The nurse will be in soon to take her up to radiology."

"OK, thank you." Jenna gave him a quick smile before pushing the door open.

"Aunt Jenna, Jeremy," Elena said as soon as they came into the room.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Jenna asked, hurrying to the side of the bed and scrutinizing Elena's face.

"Not great, but it could be worse," Elena replied. "My head is killing me, no surprise there, and I'm a little dizzy and nauseas too, but they told me that's all normal. And I know what day it is and who's president, so I don't have amnesia. That's a plus, right?"

Nodding, Jenna tried to keep the tears at bay. It wasn't until now, when she could see that Elena was OK, that she let herself think about what could have happened, how much worse it could have been.

"What were you thinking, getting in the middle of a fight like that?" Jeremy asked in an accusatory voice, distracting Jenna.

"I know, it was stupid," Elena admitted, leaning back against the pillows and wincing a little. "Trust me, it's not something I'm going to be repeating anytime soon."

"Good. You had us all really worried," Jenna told her.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be ridiculous, you don't have to apologize," Jenna objected.

At that moment, the door opened and two nurses came into the room. "We need to take her up to radiology now," the younger woman said with an apologetic smile. "It'll take a little while, but someone will let you know when she's been moved to a room, OK?"

"Of course." Jenna squeezed Elena's hand. "We'll see you soon, OK sweetie?"

Elena nodded, then winced a little again. "Need to remember that I can't move my head too much," she said with an attempted smile.

Jeremy let out a laugh that sounded nothing like him and Jenna tried to mirror Elena's smile as the nurses wheeled her out of the room. When the door closed behind them, Jenna couldn't help but let a sob escape.

"She'll be fine, Aunt Jenna," Jeremy said, pulling his aunt into a hug.

"I know," she replied, hugging him tightly. "I just can't help but think about how much worse it could have been."

"I know."

* * *

Damon didn't remember anything of the drive to the hospital; the only thing he could focus on was getting to Elena. Again and again, he counted back the days until the last time she'd had some of his blood but, every time, he came to the conclusion that it was too long ago to make a difference now, the blood was already out of her system. If she died, she'd stay dead. His mind clung to the fact that Anna had said that Elena was _unconscious_ though, which meant that she was alive, at least for now. He didn't care what he'd have to do, he _was_ going to get to her so that he could give her some of his blood. She was _not_ going to die, he was _not_ going to lose her. He wasn't. He couldn't.

At the hospital, he skidded to a stop in front of the entrance doors, not caring if they gave him a ticket or had his car towed. More or less on autopilot, he rushed through the hospital to the ICU. Just as he was about to push the doors to that part of the hospital open, a doctor came through them.

"You can't go in there, authorized personnel only," she told him with a frown, blocking his way.

"Elena Gilbert," he said, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking into her eyes. "Tell me everything you know about her."

"Elena Gilbert, age seventeen. She hit her head and has a concussion," the woman replied monotonously, her eyes out of focus. "She was unconscious when the ambulance arrived at the scene of the accident, but regained consciousness on the way to the hospital. The patient's response is very good and there is no sign of brain damage, neck injury or amnesia. We're getting a CT to rule out any bleeding in the brain, but everything looks good. As long as there aren't any complications, she'll be monitored for a few hours and then released tonight."

Damon let go of the woman and closed his eyes, letting out a relieved breath.

"You can't go in here."

He opened his eyes to find the doctor looking at him, a slightly disoriented expression on her face as she once again tried to stop him from entering the ICU. "Sorry, I was looking for the waiting room," he told her. "I must have gotten turned around."

"Oh. That's back that way." She pointed in the direction he had come. "Take a left and then another left, you can't miss it."

"Thank you."

A little more slowly, he made his way back through the hallway to the waiting room. Bonnie, Alaric and Anna were sitting in three plastic chairs, all of them looking up when he came into the room.

"She's going to be fine," Bonnie told him immediately, and he nodded.

"I know, I talked to a doctor," he replied, slumping down in the chair next to Bonnie's. All the adrenalin had run out of him and the only thing he could do was sit there, staring at the wall opposite him. He felt Bonnie take his hand and gratefully squeezed it, acknowledging her sign of support. "What happened?" he asked after a while.

Bonnie hesitated, and he looked up at her. She glanced at Alaric, who shrugged. "Well …" she started, avoiding Damon's eyes.

"Tell me!"

"She tried to stop a fight and Tyler pushed her so she hit her head on a locker," she said quickly.

"Tyler?" The fear he had felt before was nothing to the anger, no, the _rage_, that surged through him now. Without thinking much about it, he got to his feet.

But Anna was right in front of him, pushing him back down in the chair. "Sit down," she ordered.

To everyone else, it probably just looked like she was trying to calm him down, but she was actually using all her strength to push him back down onto the chair. The metal legs buckled a little bit but, realizing that she was older and stronger than him, Damon then stopped struggling to get up and she let go of him. "Are you going to stay calm?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Yes," he replied reluctantly and she sat down, not in the chair she had been sitting in when he got there but the one next to him.

"Trust me, I know how you feel," Bonnie said quietly. "But Elena wouldn't want you to go after him, you know that."

He did know that, of course. Didn't mean that he didn't still want to. But, as the flash of fury subsided, he realized that he wouldn't be able to leave the hospital until he had seen for himself that Elena was OK. Doctors made mistakes all the time, he had to see her, give her some blood so that he could be completely positive that she would recover.

"Are Jenna and Jeremy in with her?" he asked, trying to distract himself from the thousands of different ways he could hurt Tyler, the way the kid would scream when he slowly broke every single bone in his entire body … If the legend was true, and he was a werewolf, it wouldn't even kill him. And if not … well, too bad. He knew how to hide a body, there would be no repeat of the Vicki debacle from last year.

"Yeah, they should be back out soon," Alaric replied, interrupting his thoughts. "The doctor said that they could only stay for a couple of minutes, they're taking her up to get a CT soon. Just to make sure there's no bleeding in her brain."

Damon nodded. The doctor had told him pretty much the same thing.

As if they had heard them, Jenna and Jeremy came through the doors leading to the ICU at that moment. Despite having been assured that Elena would be fine, Damon immediately jumped to his feet. "How is she?"

Before he could reach Jenna, Anna was by his side once more, a hand on his arm, as if expecting him to make a run for it into the ICU. He gave her a look that clearly said 'back off', but she just remained glued to his side. The kid could be _so_ annoying sometimes.

"She said that she has a headache and is feeling dizzy and a little nauseous," Jenna told him and the others, the relief obvious in her voice. "But other than that she seems to be OK."

He didn't know why, but the relief of hearing that Elena had actually _talked_ to Jenna was just as strong as when the doctor had told him that she was going to be OK.

"They're gonna come and get us when they've done the head x-ray-thing," Jeremy said, sitting down. "But the nurse said that it could take a while."

Reluctantly, Damon returned to his seat. He didn't want to just sit around and wait, but there was nothing he could do.

He tried not to focus on the clock on the wall, where the time ticked by slower than what should be possible. Instead, he was going through what he was going to say to Elena in his head, how he was going to get her to agree to always have his blood in her system so that he wouldn't have to worry about this ever again. They hadn't discussed him turning her – though her reaction to Jeremy having Anna's blood in his possession clearly told him what she thought about _that_ idea – but he thought he might be able to convince her that becoming a vampire would be better than dying, at least. And if not … he couldn't compel her, and he never would, not even for something like this, but he wouldn't give up on trying to convince her either. Sooner or later, he _was_ going to get through to her.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when a doctor came into the waiting room and Jenna got up from the chair she had been sitting in.

"How did it go?" she asked nervously, wringing her hands.

"Everything's looking good," the doctor assured her with a smile. "No sign of any kind of brain damage on the scans at all and there are no indications of neck or spinal injuries. She's been moved to a room and we'll be keeping an eye on her for the rest of the afternoon, but as long as she doesn't get worse she'll be released tonight. I'm sure she would prefer getting to go home and sleep in her own bed."

"Oh good," Jenna said, sounding relieved. "Can we see her now?"

The doctor nodded. "Of course. She's in room 325, just take the elevators by the entrance to the third floor, and you won't have a problem finding her. But not too many visitors at once; she's supposed to be resting."

"Thank you, doctor." Jenna shook the doctor's hand.

"Is there anything we need to think about?" Alaric asked. "Aren't you supposed to wake people with concussions up every couple of hours during the night or something, make sure they don't lose consciousness?"

The doctor shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary. If she feels worse, if the headache gets worse or she faints or has trouble with her eyesight, you should bring her in immediately. If not, and I'm sure there won't be any problems like that, I would recommend that she see the school nurse in a couple of days, just to be on the safe side. There's no way to treat concussions; she just needs to rest and not overdo herself. Keep her home from school at least tomorrow, but if she's feeling OK after that she can go back."

"Thank you," Jenna said again, and the doctor smiled and nodded before disappearing through the doors to the ICU.

"Come on." Jeremy pulled Anna along down the hallway in the direction of the entrance. Jenna, Alaric and Bonnie followed them, Damon trailing a few steps behind. After a moment, Bonnie glanced over her shoulder at him and paused, waiting until he had caught up with her.

"You OK?" she asked, a concerned look in her eyes.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"No you're not," she said. "When was the last time you thought someone you loved might die?"

He flinched a little at her words. "About a hundred and sixty years ago, give or take."

"That's what I thought. But don't try to put on a brave face, it's OK to be upset or angry or sad or whatever."

"I _am_ mad," he told her, sticking with the emotion he was the most familiar with. "I want to kill Tyler for hurting her. And I want to kill her for putting _herself _in a situation like that and risking her life and putting _me _through this."

"I get that," Bonnie assured him. "Do you want to take a detour around the parking lot? You can break a couple of windshields or something if you want, work off some of that anger. I'll even keep a look-out for you."

He couldn't help but smile at Bonnie's probably-not-completely-serious offer. "Thanks, but I think I'm good. I've gotten a _lot_ better at dealing with anger without smashing someone's face in lately."

"Glad to hear it. Now come on."

Damon eyed the elevator, where Jeremy was holding the door open for them. "You go ahead," he said after a moment. "I'm gonna go move my car, if they haven't already had it towed. I'll be up in a moment."

"You're not just saying that so I'll let you leave and then you'll track down Tyler at the school and beat him up, are you?" Bonnie gave him a scrutinizing look.

"No," he assured her, though the thought had occurred to him. But he still needed to see Elena before he could even think about leaving the hospital.

Bonnie nodded, looking more or less convinced. "OK. But don't make me regret this."

"I won't."

As by some miracle, his car was still where he had parked it – OK, so maybe more like 'abandoned' it – earlier. He had gotten a ticket, but he really didn't care.

When he had slid into the driver's seat, he took a couple of deep breaths before starting the engine. Elena was fine. She was fine, there was nothing to worry about. And, still, he couldn't completely believe it, not until he saw her for himself. But he didn't want her brother or aunt or best friend in the room when he saw her; he needed to be alone with her.

When he got up to the third floor, he found Alaric and Anna in a waiting room. Neither of them said anything, and he sat down in a plastic chair, waiting with them.

Fifteen minutes later, Jeremy, Jenna and Bonnie came into the room, all looking a lot less worried.

"The nurse said that they'll call when she's released," Jenna said to no-one in particular. "Elena pretty much ordered us to leave."

"I'll take you home," Alaric offered, and Jenna nodded.

"Thanks."

Damon wasn't sure what to do; had she asked that he leave, too?

"You can go in now," Jenna told him, solving his problem. "She was asking for you."

He nodded at her. "Thanks."

Leaving the waiting room and the others behind, he walked down the hallway in the direction Jenna, Jeremy and Bonnie had come from, pausing outside the room labeled 325. With one hand on the doorknob, he took a deep breath.

* * *

Elena hated to admit it, but she was a little relieved when a nurse came into her room and told Jenna that she, Jeremy and Bonnie were going to have to leave. She managed to convince Jenna to go home, that there was no point in her hanging around the hospital for hours until she was released. It wasn't that she wasn't glad to see them or didn't understand that they had been worried about her, because she did, but Jenna's fussing had been a little much.

When they were gone, she leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. One of the nurses had given her something for the headache a little while ago, and it seemed like it was kicking in; the pounding had been reduced to an annoying tension, which was still a little uncomfortable but definitely an improvement. She didn't feel quite as nauseous anymore, either, but, on the downside, she was feeling much more tired. Of course, the doctor had told her that was to be expected and that she should just rest, even sleep if she wanted to, but still.

When she heard the door open, she opened her eyes to see Damon hesitate in the doorway, a tense look on his face.

"Hey," she said, smiling a little to try to show him that she really was fine.

He closed the door behind him slowly and then, in a flash, he was next to her, tightly clutching the metal bar at the head of the bed. "Do you have _any_ idea how … how _terrified_ I've been?" he asked through clenched teeth after a moment.

"I'm sorry." She tried to pry his fingers away from the bar, but couldn't move them an inch. "But I'm OK, see?"

He looked down at what she was doing and released his grip on the metal bar, letting her take his hands in hers. "You could have died," he pointed out, voice empty of any kind of emotion, and looked away from her.

"But I'm OK," she repeated, his dead voice making butterflies flutter in her stomach, and not in a good way. Was this some sort of beginning of a 'we're too different, I don't think this is going to work' speech? Had he somehow snapped and turned his emotions back off? "Hey, look at me." She waited until he complied, searching his eyes for any kind of sign that he was about to tell her that he couldn't be with her anymore. She didn't think she saw any indications of that and the anger and worry she could see in his eyes told her that he still had his emotions intact too, but she still wanted to make sure. "You're not … you're not breaking up with me, are you? Because dumping a girl in a hospital bed, not OK."

His eyes widened as she spoke and when she was done, he shook his head. "Are you crazy?" he asked in a voice that was seriously questioning her sanity. "I just went through ten minutes today thinking that I had lost you in a _very_ permanent way, and you think I'm going to _dump_ you? Are the doctors sure there's no brain damage?"

Elena let out a relieved breath. "I just didn't know what to think about the way you just said that I could have died," she told him. "It was like you weren't feeling anything at all, and I thought that maybe you had shut off your emotions again or something."

Finally relaxing a little, he sank down in the chair Jenna had vacated a couple of minutes ago, still not letting go of her hands. "I don't think I can even do that anymore," he mused out loud. "At least not when it comes to you, I'm in too deep."

For a moment, she thought that he was going to tell her that he loved her, but he didn't continue, and a part of her was disappointed.

"This might be selfish," she started after a moment of silence, "but I'm glad. I don't know what I would do if you left me."

He reached out to push a strand of hair behind her ear and then leaned in and kissed her, slowly, gently, in a way that was so very un-Damony that she realized just how much her getting hurt must have frightened him. After just a few seconds, he pulled away again.

"I need to know that this won't ever happen again," he said, eyes burning into hers. For a moment, she thought that he was trying to compel her. She didn't have her bracelet on, she'd had to take that off earlier, so, technically, he could. But she didn't feel any kind of impulse to do what he told her to, or whatever it was that you felt when under compulsion.

"I can honestly say that I won't ever get in the middle of a fight again," she assured him. "But will I never get hurt again? You know I can't promise that."

"That's exactly what I mean," he told her. "You can't know that you won't ever get hurt again, but I need to be able to _not_ worry about it, because if I can't, that's _all_ I'll do. Every single bad thing that could possibly happen to you flashed through my mind earlier – and, let me tell you, there are a _lot_ of things that can happen – and I don't think I'll be able to let go of that."

Elena frowned, not completely understanding what he was getting at. "But that's just the way it is, Damon, people get hurt. I don't know what you want me to …" As she realized what he was talking about, she trailed off.

No. She wasn't ready for that. She didn't know if she ever would be.

"I just want you to promise that you'll always have my blood in your system," he explained, and she let out a sigh of relief. "That way, if you get hurt, I won't have to worry that you'll … die. If it's something minor, like today, it'll prevent you from getting as hurt as you otherwise would have, and if it's worse …"

"You mean, if I die, I'm turned," she completed his sentence, and he nodded.

"I'm not asking you to let me turn you," he pointed out. "I just … I need to know that, if you die, you won't just be _gone_. I. Cannot. Lose. You." He pronounced every word slowly and clearly. "Do you get that?"

She nodded. She did, she understood. If the roles had been reversed, she could definitely see herself asking him for the exact same thing.

"I understand, I do. But …" She hesitated. "You need to understand something, too," she continued, feeling the need to get the whole turning business out in the open. "I don't want to be a vampire."

He nodded, looking away from her. He had been pretty sure that was how she felt about it, but it still hurt to hear her say it. "I get that."

"Not right now." He looked up at her again, a flash of hope in his eyes. "And I don't know if I will ever want that, OK? I know that's not what you want to hear, but that's the way I feel and I'm sorry."

He squeezed her hand. "I get it, I really do," he assured her. "And it means a lot that you at least haven't completely disregarded it."

She wanted to say that she had but realized that, maybe, she hadn't. She meant it when she said that she didn't want to be turned _now_. She really didn't. But … she looked at him, the love she could so obviously see in his eyes when he looked at her these days, his fingers entwined with hers … and the possibility didn't seem so out there anymore. Maybe, someday …

"I'm seventeen," she kept going, not wanting to linger too much on those thoughts right now. "I want to finish high school, I want to go to college … after that, I don't know."

He kissed her again, a little harder, a little more like himself. "Thank you," he mumbled against her lips and she smiled as he pulled away. "And I want you to know that I won't ever turn you against your will. I could never do that to you, I hope you know that."

She hadn't really worried about that, but it was still nice to hear him say it out loud.

"But will you take my blood as a precaution?" he asked, returning to the original topic of conversation.

Elena nodded. "If it's between dying and being turned right now, it's not a choice."

She saw him let out a relieved breath and realized that he had expected her to argue. Without giving her a chance to change her mind, he bit his own wrist and held it to her mouth. The taste of his blood was familiar to her by now, and she sucked at the wound, pulling a tiny piece of him inside her. She always felt like the bond between them was even stronger than usual after they'd exchanged blood, and this time was no different, even though he hadn't had any of hers. It was like she could feel him, pulsing through her veins, even if she knew that wasn't possible.

When the wound closed up on its own, she kissed the spot on his wrist and then pulled him closer for a real kiss. He obliged for a moment, but then he pulled away from her, and she pouted.

"We _are_ in a hospital," he pointed out, laughing. "I doubt the nurses would be very happy if they walked in on us in the middle of more … carnal activities."

She pouted a little more for good measure. "I guess," she then agreed grudgingly before succumbing to a big yawn.

"Tired?" he asked, and she nodded. "The doctor said that you were going to need a lot of rest over the next couple of days."

"Yeah." She yawned again. "Shouldn't your blood have taken care of that, though?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't work that fast. It'll probably kick in soon."

"Probably. Come on, distract me, or I'll fall asleep."

"Maybe you _should_ sleep," he pointed out, getting up. "I'll let you get some rest."

"No!" she exclaimed, not letting go of his hand. Of course, if he'd wanted to, he could have pulled his hand out of her grip, but he obviously wasn't even trying. "Stay. I always sleep better when you're with me."

Trying not to look too smug about that, he obediently got into the bed when she had moved over a little to make room for him. After some maneuvering, she rested her head against his chest and let out a sigh.

"Sleep," he mumbled, kissing the top of her head. "I'll still be here when you wake up."

"Just one more thing," she mumbled sleepily.

"What?"

"You can't go after Tyler, OK? It wasn't really his fault and I don't want you to try to extract vengeance on him or something."

"Extract vengeance?" He chuckled a little at her choice of words.

"You know what I mean."

He sighed. For a moment, he considered not answering at all, but knew that it wasn't an option. "Fine, I won't go after him. Even if he _does_ deserve it."

"Thank you." She yawned again and was quiet.

After that, it didn't take long for her breathing to become deeper and more even, and, within a few minutes, she was sound asleep.

Damon lay there, looking up at the institutional-white ceiling, absentmindedly trailing his hand up and down her back, up and down.

She hadn't completely disregarded the idea of someday letting him turn her. That was a small victory. He hoped that, after a couple of years, she would realize that she didn't want to grow old and die, but that she wanted to stay young, stay with _him_, forever.

Only time would tell.

* * *

**AN: I got quite a few reviews on the last chapter about Elena actually having died when Tyler pushed her into the lockers. The idea that people might think that honestly didn't even occur to me, and it definitely wasn't my intention to give you guys that impression – I just hope that you're not too disappointed that she didn't. All I wanted to show with the whole accident thing was Damon's worry and the fact that he gets her to agree to always have his blood in her system in case something happens. She's not ready to be turned yet, and I (and Damon) don't want to do that when it's not what she wants. But, I'm not saying that it'll **_**never**_** happen either… **

**Also, I hope nobody's too disappointed that there won't be a confrontation between Damon and Tyler. I just don't think that Elena would be too happy if Damon went after Tyler, so I put their talk in there so that you're not expecting anything like that to happen. **

**OK, that's it for now. Please, let me know what you think!**


	24. Chapter twentythree

**AN: Almost 350 reviews on this story now, guys. Now, the end of the story is in sight, but there will be a couple more chapters, maybe you can get it past 400 reviews? That would be really amazing … OK, done fishing for reviews for now. Thanks to everyone who left one on the last chapter, and I'm glad I didn't get any outrageous feedback from readers who were furious that I didn't turn Elena – those of you who commented on that actually seemed glad I didn't turn her (yet …). OK, that's it. Oh, and lots of hugs to my beta, sunshine2006578!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter twenty-three**

Since she was feeling better and there were no signs of any kind of complications, Elena was released from the hospital at seven that evening.

"I'm not even gonna call Jenna," she said as Damon rolled her towards the entrance. She had been forced to accept that she had to leave the hospital in a wheelchair, since it was their policy, but she wasn't happy about it. "She'll just insist that she come and get me, and there's no point in her driving all the way across town when you're already here."

"Exactly," he agreed.

As soon as they were outside the building, Elena got up from the wheelchair. She got a head rush and stumbled a little, and Damon immediately wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her.

"I'm fine," she insisted, sounding a little annoyed. But she didn't pull away from him as he led her towards his car.

"I know."

Still, he opened the car door for her and fastened her seat belt before getting into the driver's seat. She rolled her eyes, but secretly thought it was a little cute. She had never seen him overprotective like this, and she kind of liked it … to a certain extent. She had a feeling it could get _really_ old _really_ fast if he took it to the extreme.

When they got back to the house, she let Jenna fuss over her. Without objection, she lay down on the couch, feet in Damon's lap, and accepted the pillow and blanket that Jenna brought. She obediently finished a bowl of 'medicinal' ice cream and picked a movie to watch.

"It just freaked her out, you getting hurt," Jeremy mumbled as explanation when Jenna was in the kitchen at one point. "She'll get over it soon."

Elena decided to call it an early night, partly because Jenna fussing was bugging her a little and partly because she, for some reason, still felt really tired. She didn't get it; she had been asleep for over three hours at the hospital, and still she had trouble keeping her eyes open at nine thirty.

"I'm gonna go to bed," she announced, moving into a sitting position on the couch. Damon got up and helped her to her feet, glancing at the hallway.

"Maybe I should get going …" he said, reluctantly. He didn't want to leave and not be able to come back until Jenna was asleep, which was their usual routine. Even if it would only mean an hour or two away from Elena, it was too much right now.

"Oh, you can stay," Jenna told him. "But it's an exception to the rule, OK? Don't expect it to become a regular thing or something."

"Of course. Thanks, Aunt Jenna." Elena pulled him along towards the stairs before Jenna could change her mind.

"But remember, you're supposed to be _resting_!" Jenna called after them, and Elena blushed.

"Did she _have_ to say that?" she mumbled as they climbed the stairs.

"She's just worried about you," Damon defended Jenna.

Elena raised her eyebrows at that, but didn't call him on it. "Why am I still so tired?" she asked instead. "I mean, shouldn't your blood have taken care of that by now?"

"Maybe." He shrugged. "It's not an exact science or anything. Your body probably still needs the rest."

"I guess." She closed the door behind them and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. "Now that you have me all to yourself, what are you planning on doing to me?"

He kissed her back for a moment, then pulled out of her embrace. "Rest, remember?"

She gave him an evil look, but still went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When she got back into her room, he was already in bed. She slipped in next to him, scooting over until her body was pressed against his side. He wrapped an arm around her, but other than that didn't move.

"You _sure_ you want me to rest?" she asked after a moment, kissing his neck. "There's a lot more fun stuff we could be doing."

He smiled in the dark, but remained on his back next to her. "I thought you were tired?" he pointed out.

"Not _that_ tired," she objected, running a hand down his stomach. He grabbed it before she could reach her goal, however.

"You need to sleep," he told her firmly.

"But I'm fine," she tried to insist, but the last word disappeared in a big yawn.

"That would have been a lot more convincing if you hadn't yawned," he said. "Try to sleep, OK? Please."

She pouted, knowing that he could see her. "Never thought I'd see the day when you turned down an offer for sex," she muttered, turning away from him. "Must be a first." She curled up on her side, back to him, and closed her eyes.

He was still and silent for a moment, then she felt him move behind her. "You know it's not because I don't want to, right?" he mumbled in her ear, wrapping his arms around her again. "But you need to rest, OK? Just tonight, I'm sure you'll be fine tomorrow."

She wanted to object again, but before she could say anything another yawn escaped her, and she could feel sleep closing in on her. Deciding that she could give Damon a hard time tomorrow, she snuggled closer to him and was soon asleep.

* * *

Elena felt much better the next morning and insisted on having breakfast in the kitchen with the others.

"I feel fine, honestly," she said to Jenna, who was giving her suspicious looks. "I really don't think I need to stay home from school. We're close to the end of semester tests, you know, and I don't wanna miss anything."

"Bonnie can take notes for you," Jenna replied, her voice making it clear that she had no intention of letting Elena out the door. "The doctor told you to rest, and you're going to rest."

Elena sighed impatiently, turning to Damon. "Help me out, will you? Tell her that I'm _fine_."

He put on his most innocent face. "Don't look at me, I'm with Jenna on this one. The doctor said that you should stay home from school today."

"Thank you!" Jenna got up from the table to put her coffee mug in the dishwasher. "Can I trust you to not sneak out when I leave, or will I have to call every hour or so to make sure that you're still home?"

Elena crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed that they had ganged up on her, and didn't answer. Ignoring Jenna was childish, she knew that, but she didn't care.

"I'll be here to keep an eye on her," Damon told Jenna instead, and Elena shot him an evil look.

"Great. Then I will see you tonight."

"Traitor," Elena mumbled as soon as Jenna had left the room.

"I've been called worse," Damon replied lightly, getting up to clear off the table. "Why don't you go into the living room, we can watch a movie or something."

She remained in her chair for a few minutes, staring at his back as he put the milk and orange juice away and loaded the dishwasher. Then, shaking her head, she got up and went into the living room. She slumped down on the couch and turned the television on but, of course, there was nothing she wanted to watch on.

Glancing around the living room, her eyes were caught by the DVD collection, and she smiled to herself a little. Well, if Damon wanted her to stay home and watch movies, she would. And he was going to have to put up with her choice of movies.

A moment later, he came into the living room and she tried to hide the smile on her face.

"So, what do you wanna watch?" he asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"Well, I've been meaning to watch the _Legally Blonde_ movies for_ever_," she told him in an innocent voice. "You wouldn't mind, would you?"

He gave her a suspicious look. "So to get back at me for not letting you go to school, you're going to make me watch chick flicks all day? Oh, the torture."

"Well, if I'm sick enough to have to stay home from school, I'm sick enough that you'll let me do whatever I want, right?" she pointed out.

He looked at her through narrowed eyes for a moment, but then he got up and retrieved the movies, popping the first into the DVD-player.

"Anyone in your position would be _thrilled_ at a school-free day," he grumbled as the opening credits appeared on the TV. "What's wrong with you?"

"I just don't like it when people try to tell me what to do," she replied.

"And it didn't occur to you that I might have selfish reasons for wanting to keep you home from school today?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows at her.

"Do you?" she challenged.

He didn't reply for a moment, then he turned his attention to the TV. "OK, so maybe I don't," he admitted. "I just don't wanna risk you getting worse, OK?"

"But I'm _fine_, I'm feeling much better," she told him, getting tired of having to repeat it over and over again. "Why don't you believe me?"

"I do believe you," he told her. "But I still don't wanna risk it. You don't know what it was like yesterday, not knowing what had happened to you or if you were even going to make it."

She had wanted to keep arguing, but the way he said it made all the annoyance run off her. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "OK, I'm sorry I'm being difficult," she said, letting out a sigh when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "And after we watch these movies, you can pick one, OK? I'm not that into chick flicks myself, really, I was just trying to make you regret forcing me to stay home."

"No, really?" His voice was heavily laced with sarcasm, and she smacked him on the arm.

"Be nice, or I _will_ make you watch chick flicks all day!"

* * *

Despite Jenna being a little reluctant and after a lot of convincing and promises not to outdo herself, Elena returned to school the next day.

"I can't believe you tried to stop a _fight_," Caroline exclaimed when they were walking down the hall after third period. "Did you _want_ to get beaten up? Everyone knows that Tyler has a temper, you don't get in the way when he's pissed off."

"Come on, Care, it's not _that_ bad," Matt tried to defend Tyler.

"I know he's your friend and everything, but he can be a _real_ asshole when someone talks back to him," Caroline insisted. "And remember when he punched _you_ for no reason? I mean, _he_ was the one making out with _your_ mom, hello!"

Matt grimaced. "Yeah, thanks for that reminder, Care. I had almost managed to forget about that."

"Sorry," Caroline mumbled before turning to Bonnie and Elena. "OK, we're heading this way, see you at lunch." She and Matt took off in the direction of their biology class while Bonnie and Elena kept going straight ahead towards the history classroom.

"So, I haven't gotten any Christmas shopping done yet," Bonnie said, looping her arm with Elena's. "This weekend I'm booked, but I was thinking about going into Richmond next Saturday, get everything done in one go. You in?"

"That sounds fun," Elena agreed. She had already ordered a present for Jenna online, but still had a bunch of people she needed to get something for. "I don't really like leaving it until the last minute like that, but I'm pretty sure Jenna won't let me go _anywhere_ this weekend anyway. Which means no double date, sorry."

"That's fine," Bonnie brushed it off. "Is Jenna being fussy? She's just worried about you."

"I know." Elena sighed. "But I'm _fine_. Even Damon's being all overprotective, and he _knows_ that I'm fine."

Bonnie frowned for a moment, not sure what Elena meant. Then she realized what her friend was talking about. "Oh, I get it. But you should have seen him at the hospital the other day; he was really torn up about it, even after he knew that you were going to be fine. He tried to hide it, but it was really obvious."

"I get that they worry, and I guess I can put up with the fuss for a couple of days," Elena mused out loud. "As long as it doesn't become permanent."

"I'm sure they'll get over it in a few days," Bonnie assured her as they entered the history classroom. "It was just hard, you know, not knowing for sure that you were going to be OK. I know it got to _me_, I can only imagine how hard it must have been for _them_."

"I know." Elena squeezed Bonnie's arm as they headed for their usual spots in the middle of the classroom. When they had sat down, Elena realized that Alaric wasn't there yet, which was weird, since he was almost always in the classroom before the students.

"Where's Mr. Saltzman?" someone asked, voicing her exact thoughts.

"If he's not here in five minutes, we can leave!" someone else exclaimed, making most of the class cheer at the prospect of an unexpected free period.

But, to the disappointment of those hoping to get out of history, Alaric came hurrying into the room a couple of minutes later.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone, I got an important call just before class started," he apologized, shooting Elena and Bonnie pointed looks. "Now, if you could turn to page fifty-seven in your books, we'll pick up where we left off last time."

Elena had trouble concentrating on what Alaric was talking about, wondering what the looks he had given her and Bonnie meant.

_What do you think that's about?_ she wrote on a piece of paper from her notebook halfway through class, not able to contain the curiosity anymore. She passed the note to Bonnie who glanced at her before scribbling down a reply on the note and discretely giving it back. _No idea. Maybe something about W or TL?_

Elena realized that Bonnie must be referring to the werewolf curse and Tyler, which was what she had immediately thought herself. What else could it be? _Probably. But what?_ she wrote, again slipping the note into Bonnie's hand. This time her friend didn't write anything back, but just shrugged, indicating that she had no idea.

It felt like the class lasted at least twice as long as usual, even if Elena knew that it was only because she was waiting impatiently for it to end. When the bell finally rang for lunch, she and Bonnie lingered behind the rest of the students that were hurrying out of the room.

Alaric waited until everyone had left, then he closed the door.

"I heard back from one of the contacts I asked about the werewolf curse, an expert in the area," he started when Elena and Bonnie had moved to two desks closer to the front of the room. "It's been months since I e-mailed him, and I had honestly started doubting that it would result in anything, but it turns out that he's been on an expedition in eastern Europe, trying to track werewolves."

"And?" Elena pushed, wanting him to get to the point. "The Lockwoods?"

"Sorry, I was getting to that. So this guy has been tracking werewolves all over the world for years, and he's convinced that Tyler's great-grandfather, James Lockwood, was a werewolf. There was an attack at Harvard when he was a student there, and even if it was ruled an animal attack at the time, my source tells me that it was really a werewolf who was behind it, and he's pretty much positive it was James Lockwood. Apparently, there have been rumors about the Lockwood family being werewolves for over a century."

Although she had really been expecting this – especially after the way Tyler had basically thrown her across the hallway without even realizing he was doing it – Elena was still a little shocked.

"OK, this is good, right?" Bonnie said. "I mean, now we know for sure."

Alaric nodded. "Yeah. Not sure what we're going to do with the information, though."

"Do we tell him?" Bonnie wondered out loud. "So he knows to be careful, I mean?"

"And what were you planning on saying to him?" Elena questioned. "So, Tyler, turns out you're carrying a curse that can turn you into a werewolf. But, don't worry, just try not to kill anyone and you'll be fine? First of all, I doubt he'll believe us and, second of all, even if he does, it doesn't mean that he'll be able to do anything about the rage. I mean, you said that the gene _wants _to be triggered, right?" She turned to Alaric, who nodded.

"That's true. So maybe there's no point in telling him?"

"You're probably right," Bonnie agreed.

"So what do we do?" Elena looked from Alaric to Bonnie. "Just keep an eye on him and try to stop any fight he might be getting into?"

"Without getting physically involved ourselves," Alaric hurried to add.

Elena nodded. "That sort of goes without saying."

"I can do some more research, find out if there's any way to break the curse," Alaric offered. "I don't think there's much more information to gain on the subject, but I'll give it a try."

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all they could do at the moment.

* * *

When Damon picked her up after school, Elena wasted no time telling him about the latest developments in the werewolf mystery.

"So Alaric found out that Tyler's most likely at least a carrier of the werewolf gene," she revealed as soon as she had gotten into the car.

"Really?" He glanced at her as he pulled away from the curb. "How did he find that out? I thought he said all his sources were exhausted?"

"This guy he didn't think he'd hear back from got in touch with him," she told him. "He'd been on some expedition tracking werewolves in Europe or something."

"So how did he know for sure?"

"Alaric said that this guy is a werewolf expert," she said, shaking her head. "Who knew there was even something like that? I wonder if there are vampire experts too … anyway, he's apparently been tracking werewolves here as well, and he said that there was an attack when Tyler's great-grandfather was at Harvard that was ruled an animal attack but that was actually a werewolf attack."

"Huh." Damon seemed lost in thoughts for a moment. "So, what are we going to do with this information?"

Elena sighed. "Nothing. I mean, Bonnie suggested that we tell Tyler so that he can be more careful in the future, but I don't think that's a good idea, and Alaric agrees with me. I mean, if _you_ got furious on a regular basis without knowing why, would it help if someone told you that it was some gene trying to get you to kill someone, but that you can't do that, because if you do you turn into a big, hairy monster every month at the full moon?"

He had to laugh at the way she put it. "No, probably not," he then agreed.

"Alaric's going to keep digging, see if there's any way to deactivate the curse or something. But, other than that, we'll just try to keep an eye on Tyler," Elena continued. "Try to keep him from getting into too many fights."

"Sounds like a plan." He shot her a look. "As long as you don't get involved in the actual fighting again."

It was her turn to laugh. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning to."

* * *

The next Saturday, the last weekend before Christmas, Elena, Bonnie and Caroline went to Richmond to get some Christmas shopping done.

"Seems like the rest of the state decided to do their Christmas shopping today too," Caroline complained when they finally – after ten minutes of circling the parking lot at one of the larger shopping centers in town – managed to find an open space. "And, of course, they all went here. Great."

"You'll just have to put up with it," Bonnie told her. "I really have to get this done."

"Me too," Elena agreed, turning the engine off. "And I don't think it would make a difference where we go; everywhere's full of holiday shoppers at this time of the year."

Caroline was still grumbling a little as they made their way into the mall. When they were inside, Bonnie stopped by one of the directories.

"OK, are we doing our usual Christmas routine on Thursday?" she asked.

In the past couple of years, they had developed a Christmas tradition where they got together the day before Christmas Eve. They exchanged presents, made candy – usually fudge, peppermint brittle and hard candy – and watched _The Grinch_.

"Absolutely," Elena said and Caroline nodded vigorously.

"Of course."

"Then maybe we should split up and get that done and then meet up in, say, an hour?" Bonnie suggested.

"Sounds good," Caroline agreed.

"Yeah." Elena nodded. "One hour from now back here?"

Bonnie and Caroline nodded and they went their separate ways.

Elena headed straight to Macy's, knowing that Caroline only appreciated the best presents, even if they _had_ put a limit on how much they could spend on these gifts.

She quickly found a pair of silver earrings that she knew Caroline would love and that weren't too expensive. Bonnie, on the other hand, was a bit trickier. She left Macy's and wandered into a bookstore, thinking of getting one of the latest bestsellers; Bonnie did like reading. But a book felt a little impersonal, she wanted to give her friend something that was more special. She was about to leave the store when she saw the area selling notebooks and diaries, and an old-looking book caught her eye.

She picked it up carefully; it looked like it could be from the nineteenth century or something, even if it obviously wasn't. Opening it, she realized that it was a notebook made to look like an old, leather-bound book. As she flipped through the pages, she realized what the book reminded her off; Emily's grimoire. It wasn't as large but it had the same feel for some reason.

She knew that Bonnie was still experimenting with magic, trying to become more skilled and secure using her powers. She would like something like this, a book to write down spells and stuff in. Glad she had found such a perfect gift, Elena quickly paid for the book.

She still had twenty minutes before she needed to meet up with Bonnie and Caroline, and to pass the time she went into a store selling men's clothes. She had been pondering what to get Damon for weeks; what did you get someone who, she had come to realize, had enough money to get whatever he wanted? She knew that the clothes he usually wore were way out of her league financially, and she didn't want to get him something just to get him a present. She wanted his gift to _mean_ something.

Not getting any ideas in the store, she left and sat down on a bench, waiting for Bonnie and Caroline.

"Did you get me an amazing present?"

Elena looked over her shoulder to find Bonnie exiting a store.

"I did, as a matter of fact," she replied as her friend sat down next to her.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked, trying to peek into the bag that Elena had in her hand. Luckily, she had anticipated this – Bonnie was always curious about presents – and had already wrapped the notebook in the store.

"You're going to have to wait until Thursday," she said.

"What did you get Caroline?" Bonnie changed the angle, glancing around them to make sure that Caroline wasn't within hearing distance.

"Earrings, you?" Elena replied, lowering her voice a little.

"A bracelet." Bonnie opened a small bag and Elena peeked inside it.

"That's pretty."

"I figured you can't go wrong with jewelry, right?" Bonnie said with a half-smile.

"Not when it comes to Caroline," Elena agreed.

"What about me?"

They both looked up to find Caroline approaching them.

"Nothing." Bonnie jumped to her feet. "Come on, we're on a bit of a tight schedule here."

Elena got up as well and they took off towards the next store. She thought it was a little odd that Bonnie, who had been the one to suggest the shopping trip in the first place, had suddenly remembered that she had to be home at four that afternoon. When she had asked her about it, the witch had said that Kevin had asked her to go to the movies with him, and though Elena was a little suspicious – it wasn't like Bonnie to blow off a girls' day out for a guy, especially not one she had just started dating – she accepted the excuse. Bonnie's first date with Kevin the previous Saturday had gone well, despite the double date falling through, and Elena didn't want to mess anything up for her friend.

They continued through store after store until it was almost one in the afternoon and Caroline started complaining that she was hungry.

"Yeah, let's take a lunch break," Bonnie agreed, steering them in the direction of the food court. "We need sustenance if we're going to keep this up for another two hours."

They got their food and sat down at one of the few empty tables. The mall really was packed with people Christmas shopping.

"OK, I still have to find something for my dad," Bonnie said after checking her bags. "What about you guys?"

"Mom and Matt," Caroline replied. "I hate shopping for my mom; she has no taste, so I have to pretend that I don't either or she'll hate what I get her. Which is not easy, you know, since I can't just turn of my sense of style whenever I feel like it."

Elena couldn't help but smile a little at Caroline's logic. "I just need to find something for Damon and then I'm done," she piped in. "Though I have no idea what to get him, so …"

"Let's go to Victoria's Secret when we're done," Caroline suggested.

Elena frowned at her. "Not sure how that will help."

"Oh, come on, Elena," Caroline said, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "Get him something that you'll _both_ benefit from."

"I think she's trying to tell you to get some sexy lingerie," Bonnie interjected helpfully.

"Oh." Elena hadn't thought about that, but she kind of liked the idea. Not as the only present, but as part of it. She knew that Damon would really appreciate it, and she wouldn't mind getting something for herself. She had already planned on staying at his place on Christmas Day – Jenna had been surprisingly fine with letting her spend the night at the boarding house in the past couple of weeks – and it would be the perfect time to give him his present. "OK, sure, that sounds like a good idea."

Caroline looked at her for a moment. "Wow, being with him has really made you much less prudish," she noted, and Elena rolled her eyes.

They spent half an hour in Victoria's Secret, trying on different things, with Bonnie giving them advice.

"Are you _sure_ you don't wanna get something too?" Caroline had asked her when they first entered the store. "Aren't you going out with Kevin again tonight?"

"Yes, but that makes a total of _two_ dates," Bonnie had pointed out. "We're not quite at the sexy lingerie stage yet."

Caroline had shrugged. "Maybe not. But it can't hurt to be prepared …"

"I think I'll wait a couple more dates."

"Suit yourself."

Elena was happy with her purchase; a red lace babydoll and matching panties, going with the Christmas spirit. She felt really sexy in them, even if she had nothing on Caroline's outfit.

After another hour at the mall, Caroline had managed to find a present for her mom and Bonnie one for her dad, and they left slightly ahead of schedule.

"I'm glad _that's_ over," Caroline said as they headed back towards Mystic Falls. "I _love_ Christmas, but I _hate_ Christmas shopping. It's worse than the annual sale at Bloomingdales! And I don't even get to shop for myself!"

Both Elena and Bonnie laughed at that, but couldn't argue with her dislike of Christmas shopping. At least not when the stores were this crowded, it took all the fun out of searching for the perfect presents for family and friends.

When she had dropped Bonnie and Caroline off, Elena headed home. She was looking forward to having the house to herself for a few hours; Jenna was doing her own Christmas shopping with Alaric today and Jeremy was most likely at Anna's place, he usually was on Saturdays.

She pulled up outside the house and parked by the curb, getting out of the car. It wasn't until she had grabbed her bags from the trunk and turned towards the house that she realized there was someone sitting on the porch. She frowned. She and Damon were going out for dinner tonight, but she thought he wasn't picking her up until seven. Had she gotten the times mixed up? Who else would be sitting out there in the cold like that?

But when she got closer, she saw that it wasn't Damon on the porch. As she realized who it was, she dropped her bags on the frozen lawn and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh my God!"

"Hello Elena."

* * *

**AN: I know, I know, another evil cliffy. Well, you know the drill – let me know what you think! If I get a lot of reviews, I might update early … **


	25. Chapter twentyfour

**AN: Well, 41 reviews (and some that I think refers to the last chapter but that were posted on other ones) definitely merits an early update, so here it is! I got quite a few guesses as to who is on the porch, and some of you got it right. To the rest of you – and especially toxicgurl169, sorry I'm so obvious ;-) – I hope you're not too disappointed! As always, thanks to sunshine2006578, my amazing beta. And now I will not force you to wait any longer! Oh, and I'm putting a tissue-alert at the beginning of this chapter. I got emotional myself while writing and rereading and my beta called the chapter a tear jerker, so just to be on the safe side! **

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter twenty-four**

All she could do for a moment was stare at him. Then Elena took a couple of steps closer, as if to make sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. "Stefan?" she said incredulously.

He got up and slowly, as if he didn't want to scare her, moved a few steps towards her. "Yep, it's me. I know it must come as a surprise to see me here."

"That might be the understatement of the century," she replied breathlessly, finally reaching the porch.

He gave her that half-smile she used to love so much and thrust his hands into his pocket, taking another small step closer. "I know I probably should have called first, but I was worried that you might not want to see me, so I decided not to." He shrugged. "Figured you at least wouldn't kick me out if I showed up at your door."

"That's silly, of course I would want to see you," she assured him.

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows at her. "You seem a little hesitant right now."

Elena realized that she was keeping a distance between them, without really thinking about it. "Sorry, I must be in a bit of shock."

"That's OK." He looked down at his feet, but she caught a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes before he averted them. "I get it. I wasn't expecting you to welcome me back with open arms, really, after the way I left. Couldn't help but hope, though."

"Hey." She took another step closer and he looked up at her. "Think I can get a hello-hug?"

The shadow in his eyes disappeared and quickly, as if worried that she might change her mind if he didn't take her up on it immediately, he wrapped his arms around her.

Elena returned the familiar hug. It felt good to have him back, but at the same time, being this close to him felt wrong, somehow. As soon as she thought it would be safe to pull back without hurting his feelings, she did.

"Did you just get back?" she asked, returning to the bags that she had dropped on the lawn and picking them up.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I wanted to see you before anyone else."

"Oh." Feeling a little guilty, she passed him and opened the front door, leading the way inside. She put her shopping bags down on the bottommost step of the stairs and turned to face him where he was still standing in the doorway, as if waiting for an invitation he didn't need. He didn't, right? An invitation wasn't revoked just because it wasn't used for a long time, was it? "Come on in," she told him, just to be on the safe side. Maybe it wasn't the house he wanted a renewed invitation to.

Hesitantly, he followed her into the living room. She sat down on the couch but he remained standing, looking around the room. "This place hasn't changed," he noted. "But I guess I haven't been gone _that _long."

"Seven months," she replied, a little edginess sneaking into her voice without her intention.

His brow furrowed at her words. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

She didn't want to make him feel bad, didn't want to fight with him. "Come on, sit down, tell me how you've been," she encouraged him in a too cheerful voice, patting the couch cushion next to her.

He glanced at her, as if wanting to make sure that she was serious, then he sat down next to her, a fraction of an inch too close in Elena's opinion. But she didn't move away from him. He looked at her closely, almost too scrutinizing, and she had to resist the urge to avert her eyes.

"You look good," he said after a long moment, finally breaking eye contact.

She nodded. "I am. And you look … exactly like you did before you left."

He laughed a little dryly at that. "The benefit of never aging," he told her, sounding a little bitter. Then he looked up at her again, his eyes burning into hers. "I've missed you."

And she realized that she had really missed him too. Not the Stefan she had been in love with, not the boyfriend, but the friend that she used to be able to talk to about everything. Over the past couple of months, she hadn't let herself think too much about him and hadn't noticed the hole he had left in her life when the romantic feelings she'd had for him had disappeared.

She felt the need to hug him again and didn't even try to fight it. "I've missed you too," she mumbled as she again, without the feeling of awkwardness this time, wrapped her arms around him.

* * *

Damon's phone rang a few minutes before four that afternoon.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, it's me,"_ Bonnie's voice came over the line. _"Elena just dropped me off, so you're good to go."_

"OK, thanks Sabrina."

He hung up the phone and left the house.

He had gotten tickets to a movie that he knew Elena wanted to see in Richmond that evening and, wanting to surprise her, he had enlisted Bonnie's help to get her home from the shopping trip early. They had to leave at five, and he thought she'd want some time to get ready.

When he got to her house, he parked behind her car on the street. Crossing the lawn quickly, he was about to knock on the front door when he heard a voice from the living room, a voice he recognized but that shouldn't have been there …

He lowered his hand without knocking and, careful not to make a sound, moved to the living room window, where he looked into the room. Sure enough, there, on the couch with Elena, was his apparently no longer long-lost brother. As he watched, Elena hugged Stefan tightly.

"I've missed you too."

He didn't stick around to hear any more.

* * *

This second hug felt better, not as wrong, Elena thought. She was relieved that it felt very similar to when she hugged Bonnie or Caroline or Matt; like hugging a friend. Nothing more. Maybe the first hug, the one on the porch, had felt strange because she had been afraid that some of the feelings she'd had for him would get stirred up again by being so close to him. She had moved on, she had let go of those feelings months ago, but that had been when he wasn't here, when she hadn't seen him for months. On a subconscious level she had, she now realized, worried that she'd feel differently when – if – he came back. But she didn't. There wasn't anything left of her feelings for him, not anymore. He was just a friend, no more than that. She smiled to herself at that thought.

"So, seriously, tell me how you've been," she repeated when she disentangled herself from him again. "I want to know all about Canada."

He frowned at her. "How did you know I was in Canada?" he asked.

"Oh." She hesitated. Henry probably hadn't told Stefan that he was in touch with Damon. But it couldn't hurt to tell him the truth now, right? "I guess Henry didn't tell you that he was keeping Damon updated on how you were doing then?"

A flash of anger crossed his face. "No, he didn't," he replied tightly. "So Damon's still here? Of course. I should have known that he wouldn't do what I asked him to, he never has so far, why start now?"

It took Elena a moment to remember the part of Stefan's note where he had told Damon that he could leave Mystic Falls. _Now you can leave too, when I'm no longer here to torment._ She felt a strong sense of relief that Damon hadn't done as Stefan had asked him.

"He's still here," she confirmed. "I know that you told him to leave in your note, but …"

"He told you about that?" Stefan interrupted.

"No, he didn't," she defended Damon, remembering their conversation the day after Stefan had left. "He actually made up a story about seeing you at the boarding house that night and said that you had told him that you had to leave town for a while. He even pretended like _he_ was the one who told you that it was best to leave without talking to me. He _defended_ you, told me that you needed to focus on getting better, and that you couldn't be around me for a while. The only reason I know about the note at all is because I found it accidentally, he still hasn't said anything about it."

Stefan apparently didn't know what to say to that, because he was silent for a long moment.

"He even pretended not to know where you had gone, because he didn't want me to find out about … that girl in Dumfries," she continued.

Stefan winced at her last words. "I hate myself for what I did back then," he said quietly. "That's part of the reason I stayed away as long as I did; I was afraid of facing you again, of what you'd think of me after what I did."

So she had been right about that. Instinctively, she reached out a hand and took one of his, trying to comfort him. "I understand, OK?" she told him. "It wasn't your fault, you couldn't help it. Please don't beat yourself up about it."

He nodded, seeming relieved at hearing her say it. "So, are you seeing anyone?" he asked, and she looked away from him but didn't pull her hand back. "I'm sorry, I know I have no right to ask, but I just need to know."

She hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded. He deserved the truth, and she should be the one to tell him.

"I guess that shouldn't surprise me." There was no accusation in his voice, just disappointment and sadness.

"I'm sorry, OK?" she said. "It's not something I planned. But you've been gone for _seven months_! What did you expect, that I just wait around for you to come back so that we could pick up where we left off? I didn't even know if you ever _would _come back!"

"No, I get that, I do," he assured her. "I was just hoping, you know, but I didn't really expect you to …" He cut himself off, his eyes intent on the silver charm bracelet that had slipped out from under Elena's sweater and was resting against her wrist. "Where did you get that bracelet?" he asked, lifting her hand to examine the bracelet closer. "Where did you get it?"

"I … it was a present." She tried to pull out of his grasp, but it only hardened, to the point of actual pain, around her hand. "Let go, you're hurting me!"

Immediately he dropped her hand, almost as if it had stung him or something. "I'm sorry. But that bracelet used to belong to my mother, where did you get it?" he repeated through clenched teeth.

The bracelet had been their mother's? But why would Damon give it to her if it was some sort of family heirloom? There must have been another way to get her to wear something with vervain in it …

"Did Damon give it to you?" Stefan demanded, pulling Elena out of her musings. "Did he?"

"Yes, he gave it to me, he wanted me to have something …"

"I don't believe it!" Stefan exclaimed, cutting her off. "That bracelet was the only thing of our mother's belongings that he managed to hide from Father, the only thing that wasn't sold after she died. So why would he give it to _you_? Huh?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I really don't."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're not screwing him?" Stefan's harsh words made Elena flinch. He nodded, as if that had confirmed it, and gave her a disgusted look. "That's what I thought."

"Listen to me, it wasn't …" she started, but, again, he cut her off.

"So how long did you wait before jumping into bed with him? A month? A week? Or maybe not even that long. Did he take you home that night, pretend like he wanted to comfort you? Were you really _that _easy?"

"It wasn't like that," she said, voice trembling. "We've only been together for two months."

"Together?" He looked livid, his eyes shooting daggers at her. "_Together_? Have you actually managed to delude yourself that you're anything else than one more in a very long line of conquest, another notch in the bed post, to him? I didn't think you were _that_ stupid."

Wanting to put some distance between them, get away from his angry accusations, Elena got up from the couch. "It's not like that," she repeated, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Let me guess, he's _in love_ with you?" Stefan snorted. "Right. Damon doesn't know _how_ to love. I don't know if he ever did, but _if_ he did, he hasn't for a very long time, so don't kid yourself. When he's done with you, he'll toss you aside like every other woman who's ever been stupid enough to get _involved_ with him."

"I don't care what you say," she told him, wrapping her arms around herself as if that would somehow shield her from his words. Nothing he said would convince her that Damon didn't care about her, nothing. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, trust me, I know _exactly_ what I'm talking about," he assured her coldly, getting to his feet as well. "I've known my brother a _lot_ longer than you have, and I know him _much_ better than you ever will."

"You don't know him as well as you think you do." She shook her head. "And I …" She cut herself off, stopping those three little words from escaping. Stefan wasn't the person who should be the first to hear them. "I'm in love with him. I know you may find that hard to believe, but …"

"In love with him?" His hands balled into fists and, for a moment, Elena thought that he was going to hit her. Instinctively, she took a step back, not that that would make a difference if he really wanted to hurt her. "_In love with him_? Are you insane?"

"No, I'm not."

He took a couple of steps closer to her, and she backed up even more. A look of regret flashed across his face and he lowered his hands.

"I'm sorry that I reacted so strongly, but you have to realize that I wasn't expecting to come back to _this_," he said, voice a little calmer, looking away from her.

"I know." She nodded, relieved that he at least wasn't yelling at her anymore. "I get it. And I'm sorry. I wasn't planning this, you know that, right?"

He nodded. "I understand." His eyes flashed back to her, and a look of realization that she didn't understand appeared on his face. "I notice you're not wearing your necklace anymore."

Elena touched the spot where the pendant with vervain used to rest against her skin. "No, I … I thought it was time to take it off."

"And did this somehow coincide with your new … _feelings_ for my brother?" The way he said 'feelings', like it was something ugly, something dirty, made Elena realize where he was going.

"He hasn't compelled me to feel this way, if that's what you're thinking," she said shortly.

"Of course he has." In a flash, he was right in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders, his fingers digging into her flesh, his eyes boring into hers. "You're not in love with Damon," he said slowly, voice calm, his eyes willing her to comply. "It's what he wants you to think, but it's not real."

Angrily, Elena shook his hands off and took a step back. "Are _you_ trying to compel me?" she asked dryly.

"No, Elena, I was just trying to … ow!" He had reached out to grab her by the wrist, and the heart with vervain in it had burned his skin.

"See, I'm still wearing vervain," Elena told him. "Damon gave me the bracelet when I didn't want to wear the necklace that _you_ gave me anymore, so I wouldn't be vulnerable if some vampire came to town trying to mess with my head. And, unlike you just now, he has _never_ tried to compel me, and he _never_ would."

He stared at her, eyes a little wild, rubbing the spot on his hand where the charm had burned him. "I'm …"

"Don't say that you're sorry again," she interrupted him. "I want you to leave."

"Please, Elena, I …"

She shook her head, and he cut himself off. "I can't talk to you right now, not when you're like this," she said quietly. "I understand if it'll take some time for you to come to terms with me and Damon being together, and I would like to think that we can still be friends, but if not, I understand."

He just looked at her for a moment. "I don't know," he then said. "I don't know if I can … accept this."

Elena nodded. "If that's the way it has to be, I understand."

He gave her one last, sad look before walking past her out into the hallway. When she heard the front door close behind him, Elena slumped down in one of the armchairs and buried her face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks.

* * *

She was still a little shaky from the confrontation when Jenna got home almost two hours later, but managed to not let it show. Her only effort since Stefan had left had been to put away her shopping bags in her closet, then she had changed into her comfy pants and a big, warm sweatshirt and curled up on the living room couch. She felt tired, spent somehow. His words and actions had really hurt her, and she hadn't been able to stop thinking about it all afternoon, despite much effort.

Hiding a couple of bags behind her back, Jenna snuck upstairs before coming into the living room. "Did you get all your Christmas shopping done?" she asked, sitting down in an armchair.

Elena had to think for a moment before she realized what Jenna was talking about. "Yeah," she then replied. "Well, almost."

"I'm done, thank God." Jenna slumped back in the armchair. "People seem to get crazier the closer we get to the holidays, don't they?"

"I guess."

"Are you OK?" Jenna frowned, scrutinizing Elena.

Making an effort, Elena managed to put on a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, you know. Too much people at the mall."

"I'm totally with you on that one," Jenna agreed, glancing at her watch. "Shouldn't you be getting pretty for your date? Or is this a new fashion statement?"

Elena looked down at her clothes, realizing that she should probably go and get ready. Damon was picking her up in half an hour. "Yeah, I'm gonna go change."

Somehow, she managed to finally shake off the uncomfortable feeling that Stefan's visit had left behind while she got ready. She knew that she would have to tell Damon about his brother being back in town – if Stefan hadn't stopped by the boarding house after he left her place, which she wouldn't put past him considering the state he'd been in – and had to think about how to do that. She couldn't tell him that Stefan had gotten so angry he had tried to compel her, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to hide it, either. She wasn't very good at lying, and Damon always knew when she tried to

After putting on a little make-up, she went back downstairs to watch TV with Jenna until Damon got there.

At a quarter past seven, she started wondering where he was. Granted, he wasn't always on time, but the few times he had been this late, he had always called her to let her know. She tried to call him, but the call went straight to voicemail, telling her that he had turned his phone off.

"Maybe I got things mixed up," she told Jenna. "We probably said that we'd meet at The Grill. I'm just gonna head over there, I'll see you tomorrow, OK?"

"OK sweetie, have fun."

But Damon wasn't at The Grill. Getting worried – Stefan had been really mad, after all, she couldn't rule out that he had confronted his brother, and even if she didn't think he would hurt him, she wasn't sure – Elena tried his cell again, but with the same result. Not knowing what else to do, she drove through town to the boardinghouse, getting more and more anxious as she passed through the dark streets. When she pulled up behind Damon's car in the driveway and saw that there weren't any other cars there, she let out a relieved breath.

He didn't open the door when she knocked and, after a minute or two, she let herself in.

"Hello?"

There was no answer, but she thought she could hear sounds from the living room, so she made her way there.

Damon was sitting on the couch, a glass half full of an amber colored liquid in his hand, staring at the fire in the fireplace.

"There you are," Elena exclaimed, relieved. "I got worried."

"Here I am," he replied coldly, not looking away from the fire to meet her eyes.

She frowned at the detached tone of voice he was using. "Are you drunk?" she asked, moving closer so that she could see him better.

"Maybe." He shrugged. "So what if I am?"

The truth was, the glass in his hand was the same one he had poured himself when he had gotten back from her place over three hours earlier. Or, actually, it was his second glass, but the first had been shattered against the fireplace, so it didn't count. The point was that he wasn't drunk, he hadn't emptied every bottle in the house, even though he knew that the alcohol could give him momentary relief from the excruciating pain. Maybe there was a masochist inside him somewhere. If so, he should be ecstatic now that Elena had come to deliver the final blow.

"I thought you were picking me up at seven," she said uncertainly, not able to read his tone or expression. "Weren't we having dinner?"

He still didn't look at her. "I figured you'd be busy with your little _reunion_." He put emphasis on the last word and it came out twisted with anger.

"Did Stefan come here after he left my house?" she asked, frowning.

"Nope."

"Then how do you …" Her mouth fell open and she glared at him accusatory. "Were you spying on me?"

"No!" he burst out, the glass exploding in his hand when he couldn't control the anger anymore. "I _was_ going to surprise you, take you to the movies in Richmond, but I guess the surprise was on me, huh? I should have known that you'd go running back to him the moment he set his foot in this town again."

For the last three hours, he had sat there, staring into the fire and willing the image of her with his brother to go away. But it was like it had been burned into his retina; he couldn't escape it. And, as the hours had passed and the night had fallen outside, the image had gotten distorted, morphed into something else. It was no longer two people embracing in a way that – if you wanted to see it like that, which he didn't – could be called _friendly_. Other images, older images of them kissing, images he had never actually seen for himself of her naked body beneath his brother's, made their way into his mind and he couldn't shake them off. _Of course_ she would pick Stefan. Everyone always did. He was the favorite, the golden boy, everyone's first choice. Why should Elena be any different? It had been stupid to convince himself that she could feel anything remotely like _love_ for him. Nobody could love him, why would they? He was nothing but a big disappointment; Father had made sure he knew _that _a long time ago.

"Well, you're not very good at eavesdropping," Elena said lightly, obviously completely unaware of the dark thoughts worming around in his head, poisoning his mind.

"I heard what I needed to hear, saw what I needed to see," he muttered, scrutinizing the gashes that the broken glass had made on the palm of his hand and his fingers. They were already healing, something he knew that he wouldn't be able to say about his heart any time soon.

He had tried to find that little internal switch, turn his emotions back off, for three hours now, but he couldn't do it. Now, with her here, in the same room, he searched for it frantically. He could take her leaving him, he could take her choosing his brother over him, but he couldn't take her trying to _explain _or _justify _or make him _feel _better. That he couldn't deal with, not now, not when the pain was still so fresh. Still an open wound.

"Which was what, exactly?"

Against his better judgment, he looked up at her. The expression in her eyes wasn't pitying, like he had expected. It was a mix of emotions: confusion, annoyance … love? No, that wasn't possible. He quickly looked away from her again.

"I saw you hugging him, saying that you'd missed him."

When he said it out loud, it sounded ridiculous.

"Of course I've _missed_ him," she said, starting to sound a little impatient. "He's still my friend, and I've been worried about him."

"Didn't look like you were greeting a long-lost _friend_. Looked more like you were welcoming your _boyfriend_ back."

"Well, I wasn't!"

"Look, I get it, OK?" He raised his eyes as high as her chin, but didn't meet hers. "You're still in love with him. It shouldn't come as a surprise, really."

"I'm not!" she insisted. "I don't have any feelings for him anymore, how can you even think that?"

"It's not that strange, really," he continued, voice completely emotionless. "I mean, he left out of the blue and you never got to resolve your feelings, never got any closure. Of course your feelings for him will resurface now that he's back, it's only natural."

"They haven't," she tried to tell him, her voice making it obvious that she was on the verge of tears. "Don't you think I thought about this before I even got involved with you? Don't you think I tried to imagine what it would be like when – if – he came back? I already knew that there was nothing left between us then, and there still isn't! The fact that he's back hasn't done anything to change how I feel, you have to believe that!"

"It's OK." Finally able to hide the emotions that he knew had up until now been evident in his eyes, he looked up at her. "You don't have to try to spare my feelings, I'll live. I survived thinking that Katherine was dead a hundred and fifty years ago, I'll survive you you leaving me for him."

"I'm not trying to spare your feelings, and I'm not leaving you for him! Stop saying stuff like that!"

"It's OK," he repeated, voice tired. He didn't want to do this anymore. He just wanted her to go, leave him alone to try to put the pieces of his heart back together. The sooner he could forget about her, the better it would be. He had the rest of forever, after all. That should do it. "You're in love with him, I get it."

"I'm not in love with him, why won't you listen to me?" A few tears had escaped Elena's eyes, and she angrily wiped them away. Why wouldn't he listen to her?

"Why should I believe you?" he asked, and a little of the feeling of abandonment that was overwhelming him escaped with the words. "It's _always_ been Stefan, everyone's _always_ picked him. Why should I believe that you're any different?"

"Because I'm in love with _you_, you idiot!"

Her words brought him up short, and silence fell in the room. "Could you say that again?" he asked after a moment, his voice disbelieving.

Letting out a shaky breath, Elena crossed the room and sat down on the table in front of him so that she could look him in the eye. "I. Love. You," she said slowly, pausing between each word. She hated the look of incredulity in his eyes. How could anyone _not_ love him? Tentatively, as if expecting him to pull away from her, she reached out and laid her hand against his cheek. "I love you. I _love_ you. I love _you_. _I_ love you." As she repeated the words, over and over again, he closed his eyes and drew in a ragged breath. "And you can yell at me all you want and accuse me of all the horrible things you can think of, that's not going to change. Not _ever_, you hear me?"

"I'm sorry," he said, voice shaking. "I'm sorry I doubted you. I just …"

"Shhh," she mumbled, climbing into his lap and wrapping her arms around him. "I know, I know. It's OK."

He clung to her as if his life depended on it, and they sat like that, neither of them moving, for a long time. Then, after Elena didn't know how long, Damon pulled back. "I love you," he murmured, the look in his eyes fervent, and kissed her. "God, I love you."

* * *

**AN: OK, there it is, how did I do? This is probably my favorite chapter of the entire story so far, and, like I said, writing it was an emotional rollercoaster, so please let me know what you thought. **


	26. Chapter twentyfive

**AN: Well, it seems like you guys liked the last chapter too – 41 reviews, thanks so much for taking the time out everyone! And I got a new review for one of my **_**Vampire Diaries**_** one-shots the other day, for the first time in months, so thanks to bloodyrose1294 for that! And, as always, lots of hugs to my amazing beta, sunshine2006578. **

**I got a couple of comments in the reviews yesterday asking if I wasn't updating yesterday as usual. Sorry about the slight delay, but life has started to return to normal again after the holidays, and Thursday nights are musc/TV-show/movie quiz at a pub in town, so that's why I didn't update last night. Again, sorry about that but now, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

* * *

**

**Chapter twenty-five**

Elena returned Damon's kiss, her mouth opening to let him in, and their tongues met and battled. Though she had been suspecting for a while that he loved her, it had been both a relief and a thrill to actually hear him say the words out loud, especially after the misunderstanding with Stefan. For a second there, when he refused to believe her, she had feared that she wouldn't be able to convince him.

His lips became more urgent against hers, his hand slipping up underneath her sweater and top to caress her back, and she, in turn, tugged at the top button in his shirt. She knew how he felt, the need to be closer, skin on skin, together, a part of each other. Pulling away from him for a second, she tugged both her sweater and top over her head and tossed them aside; the heat coming from the fire in the room and the heated touch of his hands that were roaming her body prevented her from getting cold. Making short work of the rest of the buttons in his shirt, she pushed it off his shoulders and he leaned forward a little so that she could get it all the way off.

Abandoning her lips, he trailed kisses down her jaw line to her neck. "I love you," he mumbled against her skin, as if relishing in the newly pronounced words. "I love you, so much, more than anything."

"I love you," she replied, getting his belt unbuckled and then the button and zipper in his jeans. But that was as far as she could get without getting out of his lap, and the mere idea of being separated from him physically right now had her entire body protesting. He was having similar problems and, after a moment of hesitation, he tore her jeans apart so that he was able to get them out of the way. In the back of her mind, she was glad that she hadn't put on her favorites – she knew that an insignificant detail like that wouldn't have stopped him. A second later, his jeans had met a similar end, and the only thing still separating them was their underwear.

"Need you," he grumbled, his lips making their way back to hers. "Now." He unhooked her bra and threw it across the room, his thumb grazing her nipple, making her gasp into his mouth.

Somehow, he managed to get her underwear off without tearing them – or at least she _thought_ he did, she was a little too focused on other things to be sure – and then he pushed into her, hard. Her fingernails dug into his back and a small whimper escaped her lips. He pulled away from her a little, breathing heavily, with a worried look in his eyes. "Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No, God no." She shook her head, kissing him again, and started moving.

It wasn't slow, loving, gentle, but that wasn't what either of them needed at the moment. Instead, it was hard, hurried and almost violent. Within minutes, she could feel him start convulsing inside her. At almost the exact same time, his fangs pierced the skin on her neck, and she cried out as everything fell apart around her and she was swallowed by the darkness for an immeasurable amount of time.

When she came around, he was licking at the bite marks on her neck, his hands running up and down her back, holding her to him.

"God," she mumbled, pulling his lips to hers for a languid kiss.

He returned the kiss for a long moment, then he pulled away. "Tell me about it." He bit his own wrist and held it up to her mouth.

She sucked at the wound, anticipating the instant reaction in … another part of him. When she felt him start hardening inside her again, she sucked harder, and he let out a hiss, but didn't pull his wrist away from her mouth. Taking that as encouragement, she continued her administrations on the wound while starting to move around him again, up and down, slowly this time.

When the wound sealed itself up, he pulled her down for a kiss, the taste of his own blood on her lips an intense aphrodisiac. He thought about moving things upstairs, to the comfort of his bed, but disregarded the idea almost as soon as it had crossed his mind. It would take much too long, even if he did move as fast as he could. Seconds lost for nothing. Instead, he maneuvered them around on the couch so that she was on her back. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper inside her, and he groaned against her lips.

"If I wasn't already dead, you'd be the end of me," he muttered, pulling away from her. Elena let out a laugh, which turned into a gasp when his mouth closed around her nipple.

"God," she moaned, her hand tangling in his hair to keep him in place and her back arching against him. "Don't stop."

Stopping was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. Licking and sucking at her breast, he continued pushing into her, a little deeper with each thrust. He knew her body so well by now that he could tell when she was getting closer and, to push her over the edge a second time, he slipped one hand between them, finding her most sensitive spot, at the same time as he pulled her other nipple into his mouth. With a muffled cry, she came again, pulling him along into oblivion.

* * *

When Elena woke up the next morning, she could tell that she had been smiling in her sleep. Absentmindedly, she wondered how it was possible that a day could take such a sharp turn as hers had yesterday; from the emotional turmoil that Stefan's visit had left her in, to the complete bliss that had filled her before she had fallen asleep in Damon's arms.

She could feel him close behind her, his arms still tight around her and his breath tingling the skin on her neck. Having him so close to her, even when he was asleep, made her entire body hum in anticipation. She almost decided to wake him up, knowing both that he wouldn't mind and where things would end up, but changed her mind at the last minute.

Considering the state he had been in when she got to the house last night – which she had only realized much later, since the idea that he would think that she was still in love with Stefan hadn't even crossed her mind – the evening had ended extremely well. After their lovemaking, they had stayed on the couch, curled up under a blanket, mostly just watching the fire. They hadn't talked much, and she still had to tell him more about Stefan's visit, but that could wait. She was in no hurry to make him mad at his brother.

She really didn't want to get out of bed but, unfortunately, nature called, so carefully, not wanting to wake Damon up, she slipped out from under the covers. He stirred a little, but just pulled the pillow she had abandoned to him and mumbled a little in his sleep. For a moment, the intended trip to the bathroom slipped her mind and she stood there, watching him. His features were completely relaxed in sleep, giving him an almost vulnerable look, which she had also seen on his face last night. _It's _always_ been Stefan, everyone's _always_ picked him. Why should I believe that you're any different?_ Remembering his words made her heart ache a little and she couldn't help but lean down and press a kiss to his lips. How could he have been thinking like that? How could he not have known how much she loved _him_?

The need that had made her get out of bed in the first place made itself felt and she reluctantly left the room. After she had been to the bathroom she felt another need, the need for caffeine, set in and, after pulling on one of Damon's t-shirts and a pair of his boxers – her own underwear, if they had survived last night's adventures, were somewhere in the living room and she didn't much feel like going down there naked to look for them – she padded down the stairs and into the kitchen.

She wasn't very hungry – though she should be, since she hadn't eaten anything since having lunch at the mall yesterday – so when the coffee was done, she just poured herself a large mug of the black liquid and quickly finished it. Rinsing her mug out, she decided to head back upstairs and crawl into bed again. Damon had slept long enough now, and she knew that he wouldn't mind getting woken up the way she had in mind … just the thought made her entire body tingle in anticipation and she hurried out of the kitchen.

Halfway up the stairs, however, there was a knock on the door, and she paused. It was barely nine o'clock in the morning, who would be coming over at this hour? Had something happened? But why wouldn't whoever it was at the door have called if that were the case? Realizing that she had left her cell phone in her jacket just inside the front door last night, she tiptoed into the foyer and pulled it out, but there were no missed calls. As she contemplated letting whoever was outside think that no one was home, there was another knock.

"Damon?" Stefan's voice came through the door. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now but come on, let me in."

Elena hesitated for a moment. If she was perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't exactly eager to be alone with Stefan again, not after yesterday. On the other hand, if she could straighten things out with him before Damon had to find out about their 'conversation', that would be preferable to having to tell him about it. The last thing she wanted was to drive a wedge between the brothers if she could help it, their relationship was bad enough as it was. Plus, the odds of Stefan leaving were probably pretty slim.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. From the surprised look on his face when he saw her, Stefan hadn't been expecting her.

"Hi," she said, crossing her arms over her chest to try to warm herself up. The chilly wind coming in through the open door reminded her of the fact that she was half-naked, something that suddenly bothered her a lot.

"Hi," he echoed, taking in her bare legs and the t-shirt she was wearing. "I wasn't expecting you to be here, I wanted to talk to Damon."

"I figured as much," she told him, taking a step back to let him into the house. "He's asleep, do you want me to wake him up?"

"No," Stefan replied quickly, coming into the foyer and closing the door behind him. "Maybe we could talk instead?"

"If by 'talk' you mean that you're going to yell at me some more, I'd really rather not." She couldn't help that she sounded a little snappish. "Fighting isn't the way I like to start my Sundays if I can help it."

He gave her a sad look. "I'm sorry about yesterday," he apologized. "I know that my behavior was … beyond reproachful. I'm not asking you to forgive me, but can you at least try to understand?"

Reluctantly, Elena nodded. She didn't _want_ to understand, didn't _want_ to admit that she should have expected a reaction like that … but she _did_ understand and she _should_ have expected it.

"If you would just talk to me, I promise I won't … overreact like that again," he assured her, voice full of sincerity.

"OK," she agreed. If she was ever going to talk to him, this was probably the best opportunity, with Damon in the same house. If Stefan got aggressive in any way, all she'd have to do was yell and she knew that Damon would be there in a flash. She didn't want to think that Stefan could hurt her - before yesterday, she hadn't thought that he ever would - but she wasn't about to take any unnecessary chances.

"Really?" Stefan seemed surprised, but pleased, at her acceptance.

She nodded. "Yeah, come on, let's go into the … kitchen." She had been about to say 'living room' but changed her mind at the last minute, knowing that her and Damon's torn clothes from last night would give away what they had been up to. She might be mad at Stefan for his behavior yesterday, but that wasn't any reason to goad him, rub his nose in it. Besides, there was no telling how he would react to seeing that.

Gratefully, he followed her into the kitchen and took a seat at the table, in the chair opposite the one she chose. Elena was relieved at the space between them, and also that the table was hiding her still naked legs from his view. "Do you want some coffee?" she asked, not sure what else to say. "I just made it less than half an hour ago, it should still be warm."

"No, that's OK," he declined and they fell silent.

"So …" she started after a moment, wanting to break the uncomfortable tension in the room. "What did you want to talk about?" He was the one who had wanted to have this so far non-conversation, after all. Was it too much to ask that he say something?

"I just want you to know how sorry I am about yesterday," he replied.

"You said that already," she pointed out.

"I know but … I need to know that you'll be able to forgive me, maybe not now, but some day. Do you think that you ever will?"

The pleading look in his eyes reminded her of the way he had looked at her after she had found out that she was Katherine's doppelganger, when she had confronted him about her fear that he had only gotten involved with her because of that resemblance and he had denied that. She nodded. "I think so. I mean, I'm not saying that what you did was OK or that I've forgiven you or anything, but I do understand, at least partly, where you're coming from and why this is hard for you. And it might take a while for me to trust you again, you have to understand that, but … I think I'll be able to forgive and forget, some day."

She saw him let out a relieved breath. "Thank you."

"So, now will you tell me about Canada?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Canada was … it was good. What I needed at the time," he told her. "I was feeling so guilty about what I'd done that I couldn't even imagine hunting in the woods around Philadelphia, where Henry lives, so the wilderness up there was really the best option. You can't get much closer to a zero chance of accidentally running into humans."

"Was it hard, getting back in control again?" she wondered, curiosity getting the better of her. She saw a shadow cross his face and regretted the question, but he didn't try to get out of it.

"It was," he replied, looking like he was far away in his mind. "You know what happened when I left Mystic Falls … I guess that, since I had spent so much time repressing the urge to feed from humans, I snapped when I'd had a taste and I just couldn't stop myself."

"But you're better now?"

He nodded. "I'm in complete control again," he assured her.

"I'm glad."

"So, your turn," he said with a half-smile. "Tell me what's been happening here since I left. When I wasn't feeling guilty about the people I'd killed, I was feeling guilty about leaving you in the middle of the mess with the tomb vampires and John and that invention thing."

"Right," Elena mumbled, remembering those weeks back in May. "Well, Isobel came to town a week or so after you left."

"_Isobel_?" His eyes widened at that. "What did _she_ want?"

"She wanted the invention." Elena shuddered at the memory of the horror when Isobel had kidnapped Jeremy. "She took Jeremy to get us to give it to her."

"But you didn't have it."

"Sorry, I forgot that you didn't know. Pearl had it, she had stolen it from Jonathan back in 1864, and she gave it to Damon. We think she was feeling guilty or something. So we _did_ have it, that wasn't the problem."

"What _was_ the problem?" he asked, leaning across the table towards her.

"The invention was a weapon against vampires," Elena revealed. "So we couldn't just hand it over, since we were pretty sure that John was planning on using it on Damon."

"What did you do?"

"We asked Bonnie to deactivate it. It turns out that all of Jonathan's inventions were spelled by Emily back then, he didn't actually invent anything, so Bonnie could take the spell away again, make the device harmless."

Stefan nodded thoughtfully at that. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you. But you got Jeremy back and everything was OK, right?"

Elena laughed. "It wasn't quite that easy," she told him. "It turned out that Bonnie hadn't actually deactivated the invention, which we didn't find out until the worst possible moment. The tomb vampires planned an attack on the founding families during the Founder's Day celebration, and John's plan was to activate the invention at that time, to incapacitate them so he could get them all to one place and burn them. Since we thought the invention didn't work, Damon and Alaric tried to kill the tomb vampires before they could hurt anyone. Only the invention _did_ work, so …"

"Damon was affected?" he finished for her, and she thought there was a hint of delight at the idea of his brother getting hurt in his voice, but chose not to address it.

"Yeah. They almost got him, but Alaric helped him. And Jeremy and I got Anna out. The rest of them, including the Mayor who was apparently a werewolf, were burned in the basement in my dad's old office building."

Stefan stared at her for a moment. "I'm sorry, werewolf?"

Elena sighed. "It's a long story but, basically, the Lockwoods carry a gene making them werewolves if it's triggered, and they were affected by the invention too. It emitted some sort of high pitched sound that normal humans couldn't hear. So the Mayor was killed and Tyler crashed his car, getting Matt and Caroline hurt."

"Are they OK?" he asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah." Elena nodded and smiled. "Caroline was touch and go for a while, but Damon gave her some of his blood, so she recovered. We don't know if she would have made it otherwise."

Stefan didn't say anything about this, and the thoughtful look had reappeared on his face.

"He's not the same person anymore," Elena said quietly after a moment of silence. "He's changed _so_ much. He tried to save everyone from the tomb vampires at the Founder's Day celebration, putting himself at risk. He probably saved Caroline's life, giving her his blood like that, and he didn't have to do any of those things. I know you still see him as the crazy killer who came here last year, but he's not. And he … he's been there for me, every day, no matter what."

He held up a hand as if to stop her. "You don't need to justify the way you feel about him to me," he told her, a hint of sadness in his voice. "I gave up every claim I might have had on you when I left."

"No, Stefan, don't …"

"It's OK," he cut her off, getting up from the table. "On second thought, I think I will come back later."

"OK." She understood that everything she had told him might have been too much. She hadn't meant to add to his guilt, but she should have known that telling him about Isobel and the invention and the tomb vampires would do exactly that. "Where are you staying?"

"A bed and breakfast in Boydton."

She nodded and then walked him to the door in silence. She thought he was going to leave without a word, but he turned in the doorway.

"You're happy," he said with a half-smile. "Even I can see that, no matter how much I wish I couldn't. I'm glad; all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. Just know that I'll always be here for you, whatever you need. Goodbye, Elena."

"No!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the arm before he could leave. "Don't say it like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like … like it's the last time I'll see you." She knew that things would never be the same between them again, but she couldn't bear the thought of never seeing him again. It had been hard enough not knowing when he would be back, but she had always, deep down, known that he would come back some day. "I get it if you need some time to get used to … everything, but we can still be friends, right?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I don't know, Elena. Right now … I don't think so. It would be too hard, seeing you with him. But I'll try to … get over it, OK?"

Knowing that this was probably the best reply she was going to get, Elena nodded. "OK." Impulsively, she took a step closer and hugged him. He froze for a moment, but then he wrapped his arms around her too. "Try hard," she mumbled before letting him go and going back into the house, closing the door behind her.

He stayed on the porch for a moment, staring at the closed door, wishing that things were different.

* * *

Elena wasn't in bed when Damon woke up and, for a split second, he wondered if last night had been a dream. But, no. The side of the bed that had more or less become hers had been slept in and he could still smell her on the sheets. Then he heard the front door close downstairs. Was she leaving? Looking around the room, he didn't find a note telling him that she had to run out for a moment or something like that. Frowning, he got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before leaving the room.

He wasn't really worried – he had believed every word she had said last night, and knew that she wouldn't do something like take off with Stefan – but still wanted to know what was going on.

He found her just inside the door, wearing nothing but one of his t-shirts, as far as he could tell. When she saw him, she put on a weak smile and tried, but failed, to discretely wipe away a couple of tears.

"Hey."

"You OK?" he asked, taking the last few steps down the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, waving his concern off with one hand.

"Did you just come back inside?" he wondered, remembering the door closing a moment earlier. "You shouldn't go out like that, you'll catch a cold."

"No, I …" She hesitated a moment, but then decided to tell him. "Stefan just left."

"Oh." He reached out and wiped away a lone tear that she had missed. "What did he say to make you so upset?"

"It wasn't his fault, really," she defended him. "He just … he said that he didn't think we could be friends right now, that it would be too hard for him to see me with you, so I guess I won't see him for a while. Probably a long while."

Frowning, Damon pulled her into an embrace. "I'm sorry."

Maybe the fact that she was crying over his brother should have made him angry, but it didn't. Sure, a part of him – a pretty big part, to be honest – was glad that she wouldn't see Stefan for a while. But what she had said last night had hit home, and he knew that he would never doubt her feelings for him again. He also knew that the friendship she still felt for Stefan wasn't a threat to what they had together, so he saw no reason to ask her to never see his brother again. Not to mention the fact that he was convinced that a request like that would just make her mad at him and have the exact opposite effect. And what it really came down to in the end was that he wanted her to be happy. And if Stefan being a part of her life made her happy, then he wouldn't take that away from her.

She hugged him back tightly. "I just hate that this, I hate that _we_ have to hurt him," she mumbled after a moment.

"I know," he replied.

After a few minutes, she pulled away from him. "OK, weepy moment over," she said with a slightly more convincing smile. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Breakfast?" he suggested, and in response her stomach growled. "I'll take that as a yes."

She sat down at the table while he made scrambled eggs. "You know, for someone who doesn't actually _have_ to eat, you're a surprisingly good cook," she noted after taking a couple of bites of the food, and he laughed.

"If you hadn't sounded so surprised, I might have taken that as a compliment."

She laughed too.

"So …" he started, thinking that it was a good moment to bring up her conversation with Stefan yesterday, "you never told me what happened after I stopped eavesdropping yesterday."

"Oh." She looked down at the table, tracing a grain in the wood with one finger. "We just … talked. He wasn't exactly happy when I told him about us, of course."

Somehow, he didn't think _not happy_ covered it, and the fact that she wouldn't meet his eyes told him that there was definitely more to the story. "What did he do?"

Without thinking about it, she rubbed her wrist, the one that Stefan had grabbed. She had noticed a red mark there, but hoped that Damon wouldn't connect the dots. But, of course, he did.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked, taking her hand in his and scrutinizing the mark. His voice was controlled, but she could still hear the rage bubbling just below the surface.

"It's nothing," she assured him, letting him examine her wrist. She half-expected him to jump to his feet and storm out of the room, but he didn't.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," he said, pulling her hand to his lips and kissing the red spot on her wrist. "I should have known that he would react like that, but I was too busy doing the jealous boyfriend thing to worry about it. And, also, I didn't think he'd have any reason to be mad at you since I thought you had completely forgotten about me and fallen into his arms again."

"It's OK, it doesn't even hurt," she said, choosing to let the last part of his little speech go.

"What else did he do?" He scrutinized her face. "And you know I can tell when you're lying, so don't even bother trying."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, he saw my bracelet, so he put two and two together. Why didn't you tell me it used to belong to your mother, by the way?"

He shrugged. "Sorry, I just didn't want you to say that you couldn't accept a family heirloom as a gift, so I left that little detail out. Besides, it was mine to give to whoever I wanted."

She gave him a look through narrowed eyes, but decided to believe him. "So, anyway, he got really angry." She didn't see any point in repeating the exact words that had been exchanged. "I tried to explain, tell him that we hadn't planned any of this, but he … he saw that I didn't have on my necklace anymore, and he …"

"Thought that I must have compelled you," he cut her off, voice hard. "Of course he would think that, what other explanation could there be?"

"He didn't believe me when I said that you hadn't, but …" This time, she cut herself off, not sure if it was wise to tell Damon that Stefan had tried to compel her.

"Let me guess. He tried to 'help you', lift my compulsion by replacing it with his own?"

Looking down at the table, she nodded.

"He must have been really surprised when _that_ didn't work," Damon muttered.

"After that, I asked him to leave," she finished the story. "He tried to apologize, but I didn't want to talk to him anymore."

"Of course you didn't. So is that why he came over here this morning, to try to apologize again?"

"No." She frowned. "He wanted to talk to you, actually. But he did apologize. Then he told me a little about Canada and I told him about everything that's happened here since he left."

"With details, I hope?" Damon's tone of voice made it perfectly clear _what_ details he was talking about.

"No, of course not." She shot him a reproachful look. "And _you're_ not going to go rub his nose in it, either, you hear me? I get that you're mad at him, but no goading him or anything like that. And no fighting, got it? I know that you probably want to, I don't know, duel to the death or something for what he did, but I won't let you hurt him. You know you'll regret it down the line, he is your brother after all."

"Duel to the death?" he repeated with raised eyebrows. "Very medieval of you. I don't even think we did that back when I was _alive_."

"Whatever, you know what I mean," she replied.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, trying to sound disappointed. He hadn't planned on doing that, really. Not after the initial anger had subsided, anyway. Sure, he had wanted to rip Stefan's head off when he realized that he had hurt Elena, but that had only lasted a moment. Must be progress; not too long ago, he would have acted on that feeling without thinking twice about it. "Spoil all my fun, will you?"

She couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Seriously, though, do you think I should try to talk to him?" he wondered.

Elena bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "I think we need to give him a little time," she then said. "Just a couple of hours. He's staying at a bed and breakfast in Boydton, maybe you could go over there this afternoon?"

"OK," he agreed.

"Now," she started, getting up from the table, "I didn't get my good morning kiss."

But instead of coming around the table to where he was sitting, she left the room with a look over her shoulder. Before he could get to his feet, she had pulled the t-shirt over her head and tossed it aside.

He caught up with her halfway to the stairs, and she laughed when he swung her into his arms.

* * *

**AN: I hope I didn't disappoint anyone too much with 'my' Elena's reaction and decision to try to forgive Stefan. I just don't see her as a person to hold a grudge, and even if he reacted way too strongly, I think she could see his side of things and at least try to forgive him. She does still care about him, despite what he did, and I don't think she would want to lose him as a friend. And, also, she wouldn't want to come between him and Damon even more. Also, 'my' Damon isn't the same person he is on the show, so I don't think he would be as hasty to confront Stefan. I hope this still works. There, now you can yell at me all you want for having Damon and Elena be too nice to Stefan!**


	27. Chapter twentysix

**AN: OK, so I got mostly positive feedback on the last chapter, even if some of you weren't all that happy with the way I handled Damon and Elena's reactions to Stefan's outburst. I hope I haven't completely lost you as readers because of that little disagreement! All I can say is that I try to stay in character with 'my' Damon and Elena, like I said in the AN at the end of the last chapter. I have no doubt that Damon from the show wouldn't think twice about going after Stefan if he did something like this, but 'my' Damon isn't the same person anymore. Also, even if I am Delena all the way, I don't have anything against Stefan (except, of course, that he stands in the way of our favorite couple actually getting it together on the show) so I don't want him to get hurt. OK, I'm done justifying myself now! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, even those of you who didn't really like the chapter, all feedback is appreciated, since it helps me grow and develop as a writer to know what you liked or disliked! And big hugs to my wonderful beta, sunshine2006578! Oh, and I would like to apologize in advance for the Harry Potter reference, I've been reading the books lately and it just sort of snuck in there.**

**Disclaimer: The characters of **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** are the property of L.J. Smith and the people at The CW. I'm just borrowing.

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**

**Chapter twenty-six**

Damon had no trouble finding the bed and breakfast that Stefan was staying at that afternoon; Boydton wasn't exactly a metropolis. In fact, there was only the one bed and breakfast in town. A little old lady who had fluffy, white hair and was wearing an apron with kittens on it opened the door when he knocked.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he greeted her politely, putting on the polite smile he reserved for winning over old ladies.

"Well, hello there, what can I do for you?" she asked cheerfully, wiping her hands on her apron as the smell of home baked bread wafted through the house.

"My brother is staying here, he checked in last night, and it seems like he has forgotten to charge his cell phone again – he's a real scatterbrain – so I couldn't get in touch with him. Do you know if he's in his room?"

"Oh, Mr. Salvatore, of course." The lady smiled. "Yes, I can see the family resemblance."

That was a first, he thought. Of course, people usually saw what they wanted to see, or what they thought was there.

The lady glanced up the stairs that were visible through the open door and then turned back to him. "I believe he's up in his room, do you want me to tell him that you're here?"

"No, you don't have to do that, I don't want to keep you from your baking. I can just go up there myself if that's OK, I'm sure he won't mind."

"Alright then. Well, come on in. It's just up those stairs and the second room on the right, number four."

The magic words having been spoken, Damon stepped over the threshold. Hotels weren't usually a problem – they were pretty much public buildings where everyone was welcome, which meant that no invitation was required – but inns and bed and breakfasts were always tricky, since the owners normally lived in these places.

He climbed the stairs, taking in the way the house was decorated. No doubt the little old lady's doing; there were lots of flower-patterns, little tablecloths with absolutely no meaning on every one of the little tables with spindly legs and decorative plates with kittens on the walls. He would never have been able to live in a place like this, but to each their own, he supposed.

Wanting to start the conversation off on the right foot and not piss Stefan off right from the get-go, he knocked on the door. After a few seconds, it opened. Stefan's eyes narrowed when he saw his brother. "How did you find me?"

Damon smirked. "There are only so many bed and breakfasts in Boydton. It didn't exactly require PI skills."

"Did you come here to gloat?" Stefan asked dryly.

"Actually, no. As hard as that might be for you to believe," Damon replied. "Are you going to let me in, or do you want the nice little lady downstairs to hear?"

Reluctantly, Stefan stepped aside and Damon entered the room, looking around.

"Nice," he complimented. "Very … Umbridge-y with the kittens and all."

Stefan didn't even comment on the Harry Potter reference. Closing the door behind him, he turned around to face his brother. "What do you want, Damon?"

"Is it so hard for you to believe that I came to check up on you?" Damon countered, going over to a dresser and picking up a porcelain cat that was sitting on it. "Cute. You _are_ my baby brother, after all."

"Cut the crap! Did you come to give me a hard time for trying to compel Elena yesterday? Or were you planning on beating me up? Whatever it is, just get it over with."

It saddened Damon that his relationship with Stefan had come to this. Granted, it was mostly his own fault, and, not too long ago, he would have gladly rubbed Stefan's nose in the fact that, for once, _he_ had come out on top and wouldn't have cared at all about hurting his brother's feelings. But, now, he just wanted to try to make things better. He wanted to believe that they could fix things, improve their relationship. They had the rest of eternity to work on it, after all. Even Stefan couldn't mope around forever … though, knowing him, probably for an _abnormally_ long time.

With a sigh, he put the cat down and turned around, leaning against the dresser.

"I'm not here to fight with you," he said tiredly. "I'm not saying that I _like_ the fact that you tried to compel her, but since I get that you did it because you wanted to protect her, I'm … actually sort of glad that you did."

Stefan stared at him for a long moment. "You're _glad_? Who are you and what have you done to my brother?"

Damon laughed. "I know, doesn't sound like the Damon you all knew and hated, right? What can I say, Elena … she's made me see things differently."

Stefan regarded him for a moment. "She told me that you had changed," he then said. "I didn't believe her, I didn't _want_ to believe her. I don't know if I believe _you_, honestly, but if this _is _a show, it's very convincing. But then again, you were always a great actor."

"It's not an act. What do I have to gain by pretending?"

"But even if it is a show," Stefan continued without acknowledging Damon's reply, "there's not much I can do about that. Elena's obviously made her choice."

"True," Damon agreed. He couldn't really blame Stefan for not trusting him; he had spent the last century and a half going out of his way to prove that he _couldn't_ be trusted, especially not when it came to Stefan and the people he cared about. "I guess you're just going to have to wait and see."

"And you're really in love with her?" The incredulity in Stefan's voice made Damon frown. "I mean, I knew – for a while before I left last spring, actually – that there was _something _there, that you felt _some _sort of connection with her, but I wrote it off as part attraction, part the similarity with Katherine and part wanting to get back at me. It never occurred to me that it could develop into something deeper."

"Why is it so hard for _you_ of all people to believe that I could be in love with her?" Damon wondered.

"It's not, it's just … I honestly didn't think you had it in you. I really did believe that you had lost the ability to love a long time ago. I mean, the Katherine thing wasn't love. It might have been at first, but after a while it turned into an obsession."

Damon nodded thoughtfully at that. "It was. And I'm wondering if maybe you weren't right – when was it, last year? – when you said that she had compelled us both to fall in love with her. I know I said that it had been real for me, but I don't know if I actually believed that or if I just wanted what she and I had to be different from what you had with her. But now, looking back at that time … the feelings I had for Katherine are _nothing _compared to this."

Stefan looked away from him, and Damon realized that talking about his feelings for Elena might not be the best way to get on his brother's good side. But Stefan _had_ been the one to bring it up.

"Anyway, Elena said that you came to the house wanting to talk to me this morning, so I thought I'd see what it was that you wanted," he changed the subject.

Stefan laughed once, humorlessly. "I'm not sure _what_ I wanted or what I would have said if you had been the one to open the door," he admitted. "There were a lot of things going through my mind. I was pretty sure that Elena wouldn't talk to me, so I thought that maybe you could tell her how sorry I was. And, admittedly, I wanted to kill you for even touching her, even if a part of me wanted you to yell at me or punch me in the face or something for the way I treated her yesterday. I still can't believe I tried to compel her, and the way I talked to her …" He shook his head. "But I think that what I wanted most was to find out for sure that you _hadn't_ changed, because I really didn't believe that you had. I wanted a reason, an excuse, to try to convince Elena that you're no good for her, that you haven't changed and that you won't ever be able to love her the way I do."

"And now?" Damon asked, eyebrows raised.

Stefan sighed. "I don't know. I mean, putting everything with Elena aside, I can see that you've changed. The Damon I used to know would never have come here just to _talk_. And, like you said, why would you pretend? If you just wanted to get back at me or whatever, you've done that. Mission accomplished. No need to put on this little ... follow up show. You could have just told me that you won and taken off and the fact that you haven't – as much as I hate to admit it – makes me inclined to believe you when you say that you really are in love with her. But, unlike Elena, it comes naturally for me to believe the worst when it comes to you. It's ingrained in me so deeply, I can't think any other way, and I think it'll take some time to get over that impulse."

"Yeah, I get that. Don't get me wrong, I _was_ hoping we could kiss and make up – not literally! – but I wasn't really expecting it. As long as you don't try to turn her against me, I'd like to think we could come out of this … maybe not the best of friends, but not bitter enemies either."

Stefan thought about that for a moment. It had been such a long time since he had given up on his brother, it was hard to believe that this was actually happening, that _Damon_ was trying to make things better, get their relationship back on the track it had so long ago derailed from. "I'd like that," he said after a moment. "I mean, family's family, right?" They were stuck with each other for the rest of eternity, after all. Might as well try to get along. A hundred, two hundred years down the line, this would just be a bump in the road if they did manage to become friends again.

Damon nodded. "Blood's thicker than water and all that crap."

Stefan couldn't help but laugh. "Exactly."

"So we're good?" Damon asked, eyeing Stefan.

"As good as we're gonna get right now, I think," he replied after a moment's hesitation.

"That's pretty much what I had hoped for," Damon said. "I wasn't expecting you to be fine with all this right away, and I definitely didn't think I'd get your blessing or anything."

Stefan snorted. "Good, cause there's no way you're getting _that_."

Damon laughed.

"What're your plans now?" he then wondered. "Elena said that you told her you needed some time to get used to … everything."

Stefan nodded. "Yeah, I don't think I can stand being around the two of you. I can put up with a lot, but that would just be too much, especially since I don't actually _have_ to put myself through it. I might be a bit of a masochist, but even I have to draw the line somewhere. So I'm gonna leave, at least for a while."

"Any thoughts on where you might go?"

"Not really." Stefan frowned. "I had pretty much planned on staying here once I got back, so I don't have a plan B. But I'll think of something."

"How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"I honestly don't know."

Damon understood that it was for the best, and didn't argue. "Well, try to stay in touch this time, would you? Henry was pretty decent about keeping me updated, once he got over the initial reluctance, but it would have been nice to hear from you now and then too. And I know Elena doesn't want to lose touch. It doesn't have to be phone calls or even letters, but send an e-mail or a text once and again, OK? Let us know you're still among the living … dead."

Mentioning Elena was probably a low blow, but he wanted to make sure that Stefan didn't completely disappear off the radar again and thought that telling his brother that Elena wanted him to stay in touch might be the best way to achieve that.

"I think I can do that much," Stefan allowed.

"Good." Damon paused. "So, I guess this is goodbye for a while then?"

"Yeah." Stefan's eyes narrowed. "Don't expect me to hug you."

Damon scoffed. "Like I'd want you to."

"Take care, Damon," Stefan said, hesitating a moment before continuing, "and take care of Elena."

"Don't worry, I will. And you be sure to stay out of trouble, you hear me?" It was easier to joke about it than to be serious.

Stefan nodded, and Damon took that as goodbye. But when he was about to open the door, Stefan spoke again. "And Damon?"

Damon turned back around. "Yeah?"

"If you turn her …" Stefan shook his head, as if not able to think of something he could do to Damon that was bad enough if that happened.

"I won't. Not unless she asks me to."

Stefan smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile, and nodded knowingly. "But you're expecting her to want that at some point?"

Damon shrugged. "Have to hope, don't I?"

Again, he made to leave the room and, again, Stefan stopped him.

"Will you promise me one thing?" he asked.

"Depends on what you want me to promise," Damon replied cautiously, not about to make a blind promise to just anything.

"If … if it comes to that, will you let me know? I'd like to be there, help her adjust to life … after."

This surprised Damon a little; he had pretty much expected Stefan to want nothing to do with him or Elena if he turned her.

"Of course."

* * *

When she left the boarding house, Elena had been pretty confident that Damon would be fine, that he and Stefan would talk, settle things, and that everything would be OK.

At home, waiting for Damon to call her, she wasn't so sure anymore.

It wasn't that she expected Stefan to do something stupid for no reason, but Damon did have a knack for pushing his brother's buttons … what if he said something that really upset Stefan and they got into a serious fight? Or what if Stefan was still so mad that he attacked his brother as soon as he saw him? Damon had told her not to worry, but she couldn't help it … She should have gone with him, but it was too late for that now. And, come to think of it, her being there might have just made everything worse. So maybe it was better like this.

She surrendered to the fact that there was nothing she could do except wait. And, like everyone who's ever sat around waiting for time to pass knows, the minutes tick by slower than what should be possible.

She hurried through dinner, barely tasting the food, and then sat tapping her foot against the floor staring at her very silent phone. It almost felt like it was mocking her with its dark display.

"Expecting a call?" Jenna asked in an amused voice after fifteen minutes.

Elena briefly glanced up at her aunt, then went back to staring at her phone, as if that would somehow make it ring sooner. "Yeah."

"Something important, I'm guessing?" Jenna continued. "With the way you're staring at that phone, I mean."

Elena was saved from responding by the display on her phone lighting up. She answered the call before the phone even rang.

"How did it go?" she asked anxiously, getting up from the living room couch and leaving the room.

"_Were you waiting by the phone?"_ Damon wanted to know, voice amused.

"Of course I was, how did it go?" she repeated impatiently while she climbed the stairs.

He sighed over the line. _"It went fine, didn't I tell you not to worry?"_

"Like it's that easy!" Carefully, not wanting Jenna to overhear her conversation, she went into her room and closed the door behind her. She had decided not to tell her aunt about Stefan's return, at least not yet, since there would be too many questions. If he stayed in town, which she doubted after what he had said to her earlier, she would have to come up with something.

She could almost see Damon roll his eyes. _"We're both grownups, we can behave ourselves if we want to,"_ he said dryly. _"Anyway, I think he realized that I don't have some diabolical ulterior motive to be with you. And he sounded at least partly convinced that I have changed. So I don't think he's gonna try to get you to 'come to your senses' or anything."_

Elena was relieved to hear that. "Did he say what he wanted when he came by this morning?" she wondered.

She thought he hesitated for a brief second, but couldn't be sure. _"No. I don't think he knew that himself, to be perfectly honest. He was just still upset and wanted someone to blame, and who better than me? I did steal his girlfriend from him, after all."_

"No, you didn't," she objected. "It wasn't like that, and you know it!"

"_Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we talked about what he was planning to do now, and he said that he's leaving town again, he doesn't know for how long."_

Elena was silent for a moment. "That's pretty much what I figured, when he said that we couldn't be friends right now," she then said, voice a little sad. "I guess it'll be easier for him this way, and that's what matters."

"_I think I got him to promise to at least stay in touch, though,"_ Damon continued, sounding like he was trying to cheer her up. _"I know you hated it when you had no way of reaching him."_

Elena felt a rush of gratitude and love towards him. She knew that it must have been really hard for him to ask his brother, her former boyfriend, to stay in touch with her. "Thank you for doing that."

"_Of course,"_ he said lightly, as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

"So you managed to patch things up at least a little bit then?" she asked.

"_I think so,"_ he replied thoughtfully. _"I mean, I realize that it's gonna take a long time for us to … I don't know, rebuild our relationship or whatever you want to call it, and I know that it's mostly my fault that we've drifted so far apart in the first place, but I … I want to try and fix it. And I completely blame you for that, by the way!"_

She laughed at that. "You're welcome."

"_Yeah, yeah. But, you know, we have the rest of our very long … existences to work on this, and I think we might actually get there. Someday, though maybe not soon." _

She smiled to herself. "Someday."

"_Yeah. OK, I'm gonna take a shower, get something to eat. I'll see you in a couple of hours, OK?"_

"See you then."

"_I love you."_

Hearing those three little words made her smile widen. "I love you too."

* * *

Elena was surprised to find an e-mail from Stefan waiting for her when she got home from school the following afternoon. Sure, he had promised to stay in touch, but she hadn't expected any news from him for at least a little while, thinking that he needed some time. Curious as to what he could be writing, she clicked the e-mail to open it.

_Elena,_

_I'm guessing Damon told you that I said I'd try to stay in touch, so I thought I might as well start right away. I know that if I put it off I'll just think of some very good reason not to do it._

_I've packed up my things – didn't take long, since I didn't bring much with me when I left Mystic Falls so suddenly last spring – and am about to check out of the bed and breakfast I'm staying at. Do you think you could ask Damon to send some of my things to me when I get settled? I would like to have a little more to my name than just two changes of clothes and my car. _

_I've decided to go to San Francisco. Henry told me that there's another vampire "like us" living there, and I would like to get to know someone else who has made the same choice I have. I thought I'd drive, use the hours to think and, hopefully, get some perspective on everything. It's not like I have a schedule to stick to, anything I need to be in time for, and I think the extra alone time will be good for me right now._

_Again, I am so very sorry for the way I acted with you the other day. All I can really say in my defense is that, while I thought I had accepted the fact that you had most likely moved on considering the amount of time I had been gone, I was completely unprepared for the fact that the person you had moved on with could be Damon. It wasn't something I had considered and definitely not something I wanted to happen. I'm not saying that to make you feel guilty; please know that none of this is in any way your fault and please, please, don't blame yourself. Besides, you're obviously happy, which is all I ever wanted. And, as far as I can tell, you've been a good influence on him, so I am really going to try to be OK with this. For now, I think leaving is the best thing I can do; like I said, it would be too difficult for me to see you with him every day. I hope that, in the not too distant future, we will be able to be friends again, though. Until then, take care of yourself and know that I will always be here if you need me._

_Love, _

_Stefan_

Elena was smiling when she finished reading. The last part of the e-mail gave her some hope, at least, that she and Stefan would be able to find their way back to being friends, some day.

"Must be some interesting reading you've got there," came Damon's voice from the doorway, making her jump a little.

"Geez, you scared me!" she told him, turning to find him watching her with a smile on his face.

"You were very engrossed in that e-mail," he replied. "I knocked twice."

"Oh." Elena frowned. She hadn't heard him. "Sorry, I guess I was sort of focused on reading."

Damon took a few steps into the room. "Has he decided where he's going yet?" he asked in an off-hand voice.

"San Francisco, apparently," Elena replied, not even bothering to ask how he had known that the e-mail was from Stefan. If he had been able to read it from where he had been standing, then so be it. She wasn't going to keep anything from him when it came to her contact with Stefan, she owed him that much for being OK with her wanting to stay friends with his brother. And secrets never came to any good.

"San Francisco, huh." He leaned against the wall by the window. "Haven't been there since the wonderful flower power years, but it's a nice city, as far as I remember. I didn't know he had friends there."

"He said that Henry knew someone who …" Elena wasn't quite sure how to put it since her bedroom door was open and Jenna was in the house, "… shares his particular view on life."

Damon gave her a questioning look for a moment, but then he realized what she meant. "Ah, I see. Well, good for him, I guess. Birds of a feather, you know."

Elena nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think it will be good for him."

He looked at her for a moment, his eyes piercing hers. She felt like he must be able to see into her soul, read her every thought. But, of course, he couldn't. "You miss him, don't you?" he wondered quietly.

She cocked her head to the side and thought about it for a moment. "A little," she then replied, not wanting to lie. "I mean, I think it sucks that he has to leave right away again, especially since it's almost Christmas. I think you should spend Christmas with the people you care about. But I can see why he has to, why this is better for him, so I am going to try to not be selfish. I'm glad he e-mailed, me though. Thank you."

He shrugged. "No big deal."

Elena got up from the chair and crossed the room, wrapping her arms around his neck. Almost automatically, his arms slipped around her waist and he pulled her closer.

"No, it _is_ a big deal," she said, looking up at him. "I know that it must be difficult for you to accept that I can't just let him go, that I can't cut him out of my life. But I am so grateful that you're trying to understand and that you haven't asked me not to talk to him or see him."

"I would never do that," he replied, frowning. "He's your friend. And, contrary to the insecure way I acted the other day, I believe you when you say that you don't have any romantic feelings for him anymore. Plus, even if you had no contact with him personally, he _is_ still my brother. Hopefully, we'll be around each other in the future."

Elena was glad he saw it like that. "Thank you," she said again, reaching up to give him a kiss which he happily returned.

"But, of course, all of this is hypothetical," he continued when she had pulled away. "I mean, I can't be sure how I will be able to handle you seeing him, being alone with him. But I will try my best to be OK with it and not do a repeat of the jealous boyfriend act, because I know how important it is to you."

She couldn't see any sign of doubt, insecurity or insincerity in his eyes and marveled at the fact that he took it so well; she honestly hadn't expected it. But maybe she should have. In the past couple of months, he had shown that he was willing to compromise when it came to making her happy.

Something caught her eye, and she turned her attention to the window. "Hey, it's snowing!" she exclaimed, watching the large, fluffy, white flakes slowly make their way towards the frozen ground. "Maybe we will get a white Christmas, after all."

She took a few steps closer to the window and he let her slip out of his embrace. When she pressed her nose to the window, he wrapped his arms around her again, from behind this time, and watched the snowfall with her.

"I thought you hated the snow," he pointed out after a moment, remembering an earlier conversation on the subject.

"But it's almost Christmas," she replied. "Snow and Christmas go together, don't you think?"

He didn't want to ruin the moment, so he just hummed in agreement. Letting out a content sigh, she leaned back against him and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Things were going to be OK, Elena realized. Stefan might have left, but his e-mail had given her hope. They would see each other again, maybe even sooner than she thought. Jenna and Alaric were getting more serious and she was pretty sure that he was going to pop the question soon. Jeremy was doing good, Anna was a good influence on him and he did his homework and was even studying hard to pass his exams. Bonnie had, hopefully, finally found someone who would appreciate her for the amazing person she was and Caroline and Matt seemed closer than ever.

And she had Damon. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy and carefree, but was sure it had been a long time.

She hugged his arms closer. "I love you."

"I'm kinda fond of you too," he teased.

"Wow, what a declaration of love." She rolled her eyes and he laughed.

"I love you. Better?"

She smiled. "Much."

* * *

**AN: Well, this is it – the last chapter! But, before those of you who have expressed a fear of reading the words 'The End' start complaining, I have started working on a sequel, since I have a hard time letting these characters go. That story would take place about two years later and revolve around Jeremy disappearing from college … but still Delena, of course, that goes without saying! Is there any interest for a story like that? I also have an idea for another sequel, but we'll get to that after the first one, if you're interested. Leave a review to let me know and, if you like the idea, I'll start posting in a couple of days!**

**I'd like to thank everyone who has stuck with me through this story – like I told my beta while I was writing, it sort of got away with me and ended up almost twice as long as I initially intended. I hope you're not too disappointed about that. I know that I am pleased with the result and – at least right now – this is my favorite of my own stories (if I am allowed to say that without sounding too presumptuous!). And a huge thank you to those of you who have reviewed, all the reviews have put a smile on my face! OK, done for now, but, again, thanks for a wonderful ride – the story wouldn't have turned out as good as it did without you, my amazing readers!**


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